Airport Construction Enjoys Smooth Flight

Airport engineers and members of the Houston Airport System (HAS), part of the consortium that operates the Juan Santamaría International Airport in Alajuela, west of San José, conducted a tour for the press this week to showcase progress made in construction during the past five months at the airport.

As workers plugged away at the concrete shell that will house a new wing, members  of the Houston Airport System Development Company (HAS), the Airport Development Corporation of Canada (ADC) and the Andrade Gutiérrez ConcessÔes of Brazil toured the grounds to review the progress made in the past five months.

“We officially had the groundbreaking and concrete pouring on July 21,” said Jeffrey Scheferman, president of HAS. “It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come. It’s turning into an international airport. The master plan is going very well, and we’ll probably have a better idea of the final vision in another year.”

In the five months since the start of construction, crew members have laid the foundation for the new immigration wing, which will double the size of the current wing and include 10 new immigration check-in stands.

Aside from the immigration addition, new construction will also create 20 new airline check-in counters, additional security checkpoints, an elevated viewing deck to improve visibility and to provide a new area for people to welcome or say goodbye to travelers and a new gate for airline arrivals. Scheferman said he hopes most of the construction will be completed before June 2010.