Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport — also known as Guanacaste Airport and Liberia International Airport — is one of four international airports in Costa Rica. It sits west-southwest of the city of Liberia in Guanacaste Province, and serves as a tourism hub for those who visit the Pacific coast and western Costa Rica. The facility covers of land and has a single runway that can handle wide-body aircraft, including the Boeing 747.

History

The idea for an airport in Guanacaste Province was conceived during the government of Daniel Oduber Quirós (1974–1978). The airport was initially named "Llano Grande", after the surrounding area, then renamed "Aeropuerto Tomas Guardia," and finally honor Quirós for his work for the province of Guanacaste. Today, most people call it "Liberia International Airport", and in 2021 the name was changed to Guanacaste Airport for branding purposes.

In October 1995, the airport was re-inaugurated as an international airport. To support this expansion of operations, the pavement on the runway was redone and special landing lights were installed. Also a firefighter station was added to comply with FAA and international regulations. Initial response from commercial airlines to the expansion was timid; after one year, however, the airport went from having only one weekly charter flight to one almost every day.

In 2006, to manage increased demand of the airport, the government and local tourism chamber boards set aside funds to increase the parking capacity of the tarmac from five to eight airplanes, and for the construction of a parallel taxiway. The government made it clear that the solutions were only temporary and that a private company would need to be contracted to expand and operate the airport in the future. Also in 2007 a new waiting area and airport counters were opened, the airport was by then receiving more than 180,000 visitors yearly.

Expanded terminal and new operator In the 2010s, the government of Costa Rica awarded CORIPORT, S.A., a 20-year concession to design, finance, construct and operate a new terminal building and associated facilities on about of land then occupied by the existing terminal and associated facilities. CORIPORT's shareholders include MMM Aviation Group, Emperador Pez Espada S.R.L., Inversiones Cielo Claro LTDA, Cocobolo Inversiones S.R.L., and ADC&HAS Airports Worldwide. The latter is the project's operator.

The new terminal building has a contemporary design that is larger and more efficient than the old one. Construction started on 19 October 2010; the terminal opened on 12 January 2012. Another expansion, built from January to November 2017, added space for five more airlines.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics Traffic figures + LIR passenger totals, 2000–present (thousands) Source: Directorate General of Civil Aviation

+ Number of passengers Percentage change Number of movements Percentage change 200091,206 – 9,095 –200187,145 4.45% 6,347 30.21%200261,948 28.91% 6,467 1.89%200398,495 59.00% 7,089 9.62%2004203,823 106.94% 9,955 40.43%2005303,171 48.74% 12,754 28.12%2006391,567 29.16% 13,852 8.61%2007423,327 8.11% 14,592 5.34%2008442,902 4.62% 16,615 13.86%2009396,188 10.55% 12,716 23.47%2010311,009 21.50% 11,720 7.83%2011539,610 73.50% 11,695 0.21%2012668,762 23.93% 13,005 11.20%2013680,355 1.73% 14,059 8.10%2014779,757 14.61% 15,366 9.30%2015878,365 12.65% 19,468 26.70%20161,146,163 30.49% 20,758 6.63%20171,092,483 4.68% 21,037 1.34%20181,116,810 2.19% 20,799 1.14%20191,148,811 2.87% 19,630 5.62%2020453,877 60.49% 10,096 48.57%2021771,986 70.09% 18,446 82.71%20221,392,698 80.40% 21,405 16.04%20231,655,207 18.85% 23,571 10.12%20241,921,345 16.08% 27,643 17.28% Source: Directorate General of Civil Aviation of Costa Rica

Top international destinations + Busiest international routes to and from LIR (Jan. 2016 – Dec. 2016) Airport Arrivals Departures Total 2015-2016 Carriers 1 Houston, United States 151,602 147,711 299,313 39.95% Southwest, United 2 Atlanta, United States 66,719 70,254 138,765 0.15% Delta 3 Los Angeles, United States 66,971 70,254 134,623 402.19% Alaska, Delta, Southwest 4 New York City, United States 48,778 48,293 97,071 33.36% Delta, Jetblue 5 Toronto, Canada 47,338 44,787 92,125 7.88% Air Canada, Air Transat, Sunwing, WestJet 6 Miami, United States 44,183 47,153 91,336 21.99% American 7 Newark, United States 12,472 26,025 38,497 17.44% United 8 London, United Kingdom 15,592 14,593 30,185 TUI Airways 9 Dallas, United States 13,774 14,594 28,323 27.90% American 10 Minneapolis, United States 13,608 14,013 27,621 68.81% Delta, Sun Country 11 Chicago, United States 12,300 13,651 25,951 25.39% United 12 Calgary, Canada 9,202 9,465 18,667 1476.6% WestJet 13 Montreal, Canada 6,129 7,263 13,392 8.27% Air Canada, Air Transat, Sunwing 14 Panama City, Panama 5,245 5,897 12,194 8.63% Copa 15 Denver, United States 5,823 5,543 11,366 71.82% Southwest, United Source: Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Air Transportation Statistical Yearbook (Years 2015,Anuario Estadístico de Transporte Aéreo 2015. Dirección General de Aviación Civil de Costa Rica and 2016Anuario Estadístico de Transporte Aéreo 2016. Dirección General de Aviación Civil de Costa Rica).Notes: United flies to Houston-Intercontinental Airport, and Southwest flies to Houston-Hobby Airport. The data here is for traffic between LIR and all airports in Houston.

See also List of airports in Costa Rica Transport in Costa Rica

References

External links