United Airlines launches new routes to Costa Rica

The Costa Rica Tourism Board and United Airlines celebrated the first of two new routes for the North American carrier to Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO).

Thursday afternoon, the San José-area airport received a United flight direct from Los Angeles, which the Tourism Board (ICT) says is one of the cities “with the highest concentration of tourists interested in traveling to Costa Rica.”

“San Francisco and Los Angeles occupy the second and third places in the ‘top 3’ of the large cities or metropolitan areas of that country with the highest concentration of tourists interested in traveling to Costa Rica,” said Tourism Minister Gustavo Segura.

“[They are] tourists with the profile we are looking for: love of nature, culture and sustainability.”

The second inaugural flight will arrive Saturday evening from Denver.

The Los Angeles flight will operate five times weekly through the end of December with varying frequencies in 2021. The Denver flight will operate on Saturdays.

“United Airlines celebrates 30 years of flying to Costa Rica, and what better way to celebrate it than to open new routes to Los Angeles, California and Denver, Colorado — two world-class destinations,” said Carlos Granados Hernández, United Airlines Sales Manager for Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

With the new routes, Costa Rica’s largest international airport expects to end 2020 with direct connections to 20 cities across the world.

Costa Rica fully reopened its air borders to tourists on November 1. It requires that visitors purchase travel health insurance. Tourists do not need to quarantine on arrival or bring proof of a negative coronavirus test.