Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport

Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (LIR)
Liberia International Airport
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Coriport S.A.
Location Liberia, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica
Elevation AMSL 82 m / 269 ft
Coordinates 10°35′35″N 85°32′44″W / 10.59306°N 85.54556°W / 10.59306; -85.54556Coordinates: 10°35′35″N 85°32′44″W / 10.59306°N 85.54556°W / 10.59306; -85.54556
Website Liberia Int'l Airport
Map
LIR
Location in Costa Rica
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
07/25 2,750 9,022 Asphalt
Statistics (2017)
Passengers 1,068,616
Passenger change 16–17 Decrease6.8%
Aircraft movements 21,037
Movements change 16–17 Increase1.3%
Source: Costa Rican AIP,[1] DGAC[2]

Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Daniel Oduber Quirós) (IATA: LIR, ICAO: MRLB), also known as Liberia International Airport, is one of four international airports in Costa Rica. The airport is located in the city of Liberia in Guanacaste Province. It serves specially as a tourism hub for those who visit the Pacific coast and Western Costa Rica. The airport is named for Daniel Oduber Quirós, who served as president of Costa Rica from 1974 to 1978.

Daniel Oduber Quirós International airport is the country's second and Central America's sixth busiest airport. In 2016, Liberia International Airport reported 1,146,163 passengers, a 30.5% increase compared to 2015.

History

Main building interior, passenger check-in area.

The idea for an airport in the province of Guanacaste was initially conceived during the government of Daniel Oduber Quirós (1974–1978).[3] The airport was initially named "Llano Grande", due to the name of the area that it was built in.[3] It would later be named "Aeropuerto Tomas Guardia", and the last name it received is that of ex-president Daniel Oduber Quirós, in honour of his work for the province of Guanacaste. However, most people call it "Liberia International Airport".

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.[3] Also a firefighter station was added to comply with FAA and international regulations.[4] Initial response from commercial airlines to the expansion was timid; however, after one year the airport went from having only one weekly charter flight to one almost every day.[5]

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.[6] However, 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.[6] Also in 2007 a new waiting area and airport counters were opened,[7] the airport was by then receiving more than 180,000 visitors yearly.[7]

Expanded terminal and new operator

The government of Costa Rica awarded CORIPORT, S.A., a 20-year concession to design, finance, construct and operate a new terminal building and its associated landside facilities, as well as approximately 36,000 m2 (390,000 sq ft) of airport land currently 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[8] who is also the project's operator.

The new terminal building, encompassing approximately 23,000 m2 (250,000 sq ft), features a contemporary design that both increases efficiency and capacity over the existing facility. Construction started on 19 October 2010; the terminal opened on 12 January 2012.[9] Further expansion of the terminal commenced in January 2017 and was completed in November; the expansion adds capacity for the airport to receive 5 new airlines.[10]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Current domestic routes from LIR.
Current Americas routes from LIR.
Current Europe routes from LIR.
AirlinesDestinations
Aeroméxico Connect Seasonal: Mexico City (begins November 10, 2018)[11]
Air Canada Rouge Toronto–Pearson
Seasonal: Montréal–Trudeau
Air Transat Seasonal: Montréal–Trudeau, Toronto–Pearson
Alaska Airlines Los Angeles
American Airlines Charlotte, Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami
American Eagle Miami
Copa Airlines Panama City–Tocumen
Delta Air Lines Atlanta
Seasonal: Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul
JetBlue Airways New York–JFK
Seasonal: Boston
Nature Air Managua, San José–Juan Santamaría, San José–Tobías Bolaños, Tamarindo
Sansa Airlines San José–Juan Santamaría
Southwest Airlines Baltimore, Houston–Hobby
Sun Country Airlines Seasonal: Minneapolis/St. Paul
Sunwing Airlines Montréal–Trudeau, Toronto–Pearson
Seasonal: Edmonton, Vancouver (begins December 23, 2018)[12]
TUI Airways London–Gatwick
United Airlines Houston–Intercontinental
Seasonal: Chicago–O'Hare, Denver, Newark
WestJet Toronto–Pearson
Seasonal: Calgary

Statistics

Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport is the second busiest airport in Costa Rica, with a record number in passenger traffic reached in 2016.

LIR passenger totals, 2000–2016 (thousands)
Source: Directorate General of Civil Aviation
Number of passengersPercentage changeNumber of movementsPercentage change
2000 91,206–9,095–
2001 87,145Decrease4.45%6,347Decrease30.21%
2002 61,948Decrease28.91%6,467Increase1.89%
2003 98,495Increase59.00%7,089Increase9.62%
2004 203,823Increase106.94%9,955Increase40.43%
2005 303,171Increase48.74%12,754Increase28.12%
2006 391,567Increase29.16%13,852Increase8.61%
2007 423,327Increase8.11%14,592Increase5.34%
2008 442,902Increase4.62%16,615Increase13.86%
2009 396,188Decrease10.55%12,716Decrease23.47%
2010 311,009Decrease21.50%11,720Decrease7.83%
2011 539,610Increase73.50%11,695Decrease0.21%
2012 668,762Increase23.93%13,005Increase11.20%
2013 680,355Increase1.73%14,059Increase8.10%
2014 779,757Increase14.61%15,366Increase9.30%
2015 878,365Increase12.65%19,468Increase26.70%
2016 1,146,163Increase30.49%20,758Increase6.63%
2017 1,068,616Decrease6.76%21,037Increase1.34%
Source: Directorate General of Civil Aviation of Costa Rica

Top international destinations

Busiest international routes to and from LIR (Jan. 2016 – Dec. 2016)
AirportArrivalsDeparturesTotal2014-2015Carriers
1 Houston, United States1 151,602 147,711 299,313 Increase39.95% Southwest, United
2 Atlanta, United States 66,719 70,254 138,765 Increase0.15% Delta
3 Los Angeles, United States 66,971 70,254 134,623 Increase402.19% Alaska, Delta, Southwest
4 New York City, United States 48,778 48,293 97,071 Increase33.36% Delta, Jetblue
5 Toronto, Canada 47,338 44,787 92,125 Increase7.88% Air Canada, Air Transat, Sunwing, WestJet
6 Miami, United States 44,183 47,153 91,336 Decrease21.99% American
7 Newark, United States 12,472 26,025 38,497 Decrease17.44% United
8 London, United Kingdom 15,592 14,593 30,185 Increase TUI Airways
9 Dallas, United States 13,774 14,594 28,323 Decrease27.90% American
10 Minneapolis, United States 13,608 14,013 27,621 Increase68.81% Delta, Sun Country
11 Chicago, United States 12,300 13,651 25,951 Increase25.39% United
12 Calgary, Canada 9,202 9,465 18,667 Increase1476.6% WestJet
13 Montreal, Canada 6,129 7,263 13,392 Decrease8.27% Air Canada, Air Transat, Sunwing
14 Denver, United States 5,823 5,543 11,366 Increase71.82% United
15 Panama City, Panama 5,245 5,897 12,194 Decrease8.63% Copa
Source: Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Air Transportation Statistical Yearbook (Years 2015,[13] and 2016[14]).
Notes:

^1 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

References

  1. ↑ AIP - Part 3 Aerodromes Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ (in Spanish) Resumen Estadístico 2017. Datos Preliminares
  3. 1 2 3 Barahona, Hazel (1996-05-27). "Aeropuerto de Liberia aún no despega". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica.
  4. ↑ Sánchez Quirós, Olger Rafael. "Historia del Cuerpo de Bomberos del Aeropuerto Internacional Daniel Oduber Quirós Liberia Guanacaste" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 11 September 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  5. ↑ Mora, Emilia (1997-01-19). "Liberia despega". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica.
  6. 1 2 Rodríguez, Rebeca (2006-04-27). "Aeropuerto de Liberia con mayor espacio para aviones". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica.
  7. 1 2 Rodríguez, Rebeca (2007-03-23). "Gobierno inaugura obras en aeropuerto de Liberia". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica.
  8. ↑ ADC & HAS
  9. ↑ Alvarado, Karla Arias. "At last, the new Liberia airport terminal opens for business". TicoTimes.net. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  10. ↑ Madrigal, Karla (2016-12-06). "La Republica" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2016-12-06.
  11. ↑ "AeroMexico adds new regional routes in Nov 2018". Routes Online. June 2018. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  12. ↑ http://www.sunwingtravelgroup.com/en/Our-Brands/Tour-Operations/Sunwing-Vacations/Media-Room/2018/June/Vancouver-to-Costa-Rica
  13. ↑ Anuario Estadístico de Transporte Aéreo 2015. Dirección General de Aviación Civil de Costa Rica
  14. ↑ Anuario Estadístico de Transporte Aéreo 2016. Dirección General de Aviación Civil de Costa Rica
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