Costa Rica’s Juan Santamaría International Airport has been named the best regional airport in Central America and the Caribbean in the Skytrax 2026 World Airport Awards, giving the country another aviation recognition at a time when regional competition for travelers is growing.
The San José-area airport, located in Alajuela, took first place in the category of Best Regional Airports in Central America and the Caribbean. It was followed by Curaçao, El Salvador, Guatemala’s La Aurora, San Juan, Santo Domingo, Nassau Lynden Pindling, Managua, Martinique and Antigua.
Skytrax defines a regional airport as one that mainly serves domestic or regional international flights, while possibly handling a limited number of intercontinental routes. The award is based on traveler surveys conducted between August 2025 and February 2026, with passengers from more than 100 nationalities participating. The 2026 survey covered more than 575 airports.
The ranking measured passenger experience across airport services including check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security, immigration, departure gates, cleanliness, seating, signage, staff friendliness, language skills and family facilities.
For Costa Rica, the result keeps Juan Santamaría among the region’s top-performing airports for passenger service and facilities. The airport remains the country’s main international gateway and one of the most important entry points for tourists, business travelers and Costa Rican residents flying abroad.
The recognition also comes with a useful distinction. In Skytrax’s broader category for Best Airports in Central America and the Caribbean, Punta Cana ranked first, followed by Juan Santamaría, Panama Tocumen, Curaçao and San Juan. That means Juan Santamaría led the regional-airport category but placed second in the wider regional ranking.
On the global list, the region still trails the top airport hubs in Asia, Europe and North America. Singapore Changi was named the No. 1 airport in the world, followed by Seoul Incheon, Tokyo Haneda, Hong Kong and Tokyo Narita. Punta Cana entered the global top 100 at No. 95, while Juan Santamaría ranked No. 99.
That places Costa Rica’s main airport inside the global top 100, but near the bottom of the list. The result points to the same mixed picture seen across much of Central America and the Caribbean: airports in the region are improving and competing well against nearby terminals, but still face a gap with the largest global hubs in areas such as capacity, passenger flow, services, comfort and infrastructure.
El Salvador also made the regional list, placing third behind Juan Santamaría and Curaçao. Separately, El Salvador’s San Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez International Airport received a Family Friendly seal from national authorities in March, recognizing new services aimed at families, including exclusive family lines, lactation rooms, children’s play areas and adapted spaces inside the terminal.
That family-focused recognition is separate from Skytrax’s global Most Family Friendly Airport 2026 ranking, which was led by Seoul Incheon, followed by Singapore Changi and Istanbul.
For travelers coming to Costa Rica, the Skytrax result is a positive sign for Juan Santamaría, especially in a region where airports are under pressure to improve passenger experience as tourism demand grows. For Costa Rica’s tourism, the airport’s ranking gives our country a useful talking point, but the global comparison also shows where more work remains.
