Lufthansa resumes flights to Costa Rica; 210 passengers arrive

Lufthansa has resumed flights to Costa Rica, with its first flight bringing 210 passengers to the national territory from Frankfurt, Germany, according to the Civil Aviation Administration.

The Airbus A340-300 arrived on-time Wednesday evening at a rainy Juan Santamaría International Airport near San José. It’s scheduled to return to Europe on Thursday night, per flight-tracking website FlightAware.

The 210 passengers represent a load factor of about 70%. (Lufthansa operates Airbus A340-300 aircraft with three different seating arrangements and capacities.)

The Civil Aviation Administration (DGAC) didn’t provide a breakdown of how many of the 210 travelers entered the country as tourists.

The flight, which marked the second commercial arrival to Costa Rica since the country established border restrictions in mid-March, will be a mainstay at SJO during upcoming months.

“The flights will last for the rest of our summer, which ends on October 24, 2020,” the airline told CRHoy.

Current Costa Rican border restrictions allow commercial flights from select countries, including the European Union. Visitors must purchase valid travel insurance and show proof of a negative PCR-RT test from a sample taken within 48 hours of their departure, among other measures.

Citizens and residents who enter Costa Rica do not need travel insurance or a negative test, but they are issued a 14-day home isolation order upon their arrival.

Earlier this week, an Iberia flight from Spain represented the return of commercial air travel to Costa Rica in context of the coronavirus crisis.

Flights to Costa Rica in August and beyond

According to Aeris, which operates Juan Santamaría International Airport, airlines are reporting the following dates for resuming commercial flights to Costa Rica:

• Air Canada will resume flights on Sept. 12 to Toronto.
• Air France will resume flights on Oct. 14 to Paris.
• British Airways will resume flights Oct. 27.
• Edelweiss will resume flights on Oct. 15 to Zurich.
• Iberia has already resumed flights (Madrid).
• Lufthansa has already resumed flights (Frankfurt).
• Spirit and United Airlines are offering repatriation flights to the United States throughout August.
• Volaris is offering repatriation flights to Mexico on August 25 and 29.

Dates for commercial flights are subject to change as countries establish and/or modify border restrictions.