For the next few months, add an extra hour to any travel plans that include Puerto Jiménez and Nosara in the Southern Zone.
Airports at both locations closed this week to begin remodeling and widening the landing strips. Travelers headed to that vicinity are being redirected to Golfito and Carrillo airports in the interim.
Nature Air and Sansa Regional Airlines are the sole carriers that serve those locations.
The Puerto Jiménez airport closed on Monday and will reopen on Nov. 21, according to Gabriella Mejilla, director of Nature Air at the Osa Peninsula location.
Nature Air´s three daily flights to Puerto Jiménez now arrive in Golfito, Mejilla said. Passengers are then taken to a nearby dock where they catch a boat to Puerto Jiménez for ¢2,500 ($4.63) a piece.
The trip takes about 40 minutes all told, Mejilla estimated.
Passengers on Sansa´s four daily flights follow a similar routine, according to Zulena Cortés, a Sansa airlines assistant general manager.
Cortés estimated the entire trip takes just under an hour.
The airport´s remodeling is digging into Sansa´s pockets, as the company pays $8 for each trip the boat makes from Golfito to Puerto Jiménez.
Meanwhile, the Nosara airport closed on Tuesday and will reopen at the end of October, according to Sansa representatives. Both airlines are rerouting passengers through the Carrillo airport.
Sansa Airlines schedules three to four daily flights to Nosara, while Nature Air lands at the Nicoya Peninsula location one to two times daily.
Traveling from Nosara to Carrillo takes about an hour and a half by land, Mejilla estimated.
