The extension of Juan Santamaría Airport buries, for the moment, the concept of a passenger terminal at Orotina, as suggested explicitly during the administration of former President Luis Guillermo Solís.
Orotina’s infrastructure would be a long-term development that would replace Juan Santamaría when it could no longer maintain pace. The Government is rather hoping that the extension work already underway, and others to come, will extend the usable life of the country’s primary airport.
There is an early plan to change the concept of the proposal in Orotina, stated Efraím Zeledón, Minister of Public Works and Transport. Now the aim is to transform it into a cargo airport terminal, because the Juan Santamaría airport is saturated, the official said.
Orotina has various advantages to be a logistics hub, the geographical location of the canton, the connectivity with the port of Caldera and Route 27, as well as the proximity to the railroad line considering a possible reactivation of the train to Caldera.
Work in progress
Juan Santamaría is in the midst of a nearly $400 million expansion program that includes current projects and some in the pipeline.
The first element of the set of structures, including a 3,800-square-meter (m²) new arrivals space, was inaugurated this week. In this space there are counters for vehicle rentals and taxis, an inspection and customs control section with seven scanners from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), restrooms and an outdoor plaza in front of the building.
Meanwhile, a parking garage with more than 600 spots is being built, which will be partly completed by the end of the year, and a seven-storey hotel with 175 rooms will open in 2027.
The migration and security section for foreign departures in the main terminal is being extended. The second storey will extend over the airport’s internal street until it reaches the parking lot. The street will turn into a sort of tunnel. The growth of check-in counters will continue into 2027.
Juan Belliard, Director of Operations and Security at Aeris, explains that there will be changes in the way passengers move around the building while these works are being carried out.
In aviation, a new 35,000 square meters portion will be constructed in the remote platform for aircraft parking. The part has space for seven planes including three wide-body aircraft utilized for transatlantic flights.
Limón and the southern zone keep
The government want to first invest in other airports to aid Juan Santamaría
The platform for private planes is being enlarged in the instance of Liberia Airport. But the extension of the passenger terminal to cope with the increasing demand is still delayed.
The airport to be constructed in Palmar Sur, in the southern zone, is still in the archeological rescue phase. The balance of this year will be spent removing from that location the indigenous artifacts found in mid-2025.
At the same time, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) is working on the creation of the master plan to be implemented following the archeological rescue. This plan will determine the technical part of the project.
On the other hand, there is excellent news regarding the Limón airport. The tide and wind assessments, done in 2025, found the terminal is workable, but with modifications.
Among the options, said Zeledón, is to move the runway more inland or change its orientation, but what is clear is that it must be lifted two meters to protect it from floods and other climatic events.
Such changes increase the cost of the project. “The investment on this airport is pegged at 00 million.
