Costa Rica’s government is backing a legal reform that would allow private airfields to expand their runways and facilities, saying the change would help attract high-end visitors and private investment in air infrastructure. President Laura Fernández and Public Works and Transport Minister Efraím Zeledón announced the push during a visit to La Fortuna, San Carlos, one of Costa Rica’s most important tourism areas.
The administration said it will support an existing bill known as the Ley de Aeroparques Turísticos, or Tourist Airparks Law, which seeks to create a clearer legal framework for private, mixed-capital and public airfields used for tourism. Under current rules, private landing strips face size limits that restrict them to a maximum length of 1,000 meters. The reform would allow some airfields to extend runways by roughly 300 to 400 meters, widen them and add aircraft parking areas.
Supporters say those changes would make it easier for larger aircraft and international private jets to reach destinations beyond San Jose’s Juan Santamaría International Airport and Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport in Liberia.
For tourism areas such as La Fortuna, the practical argument is time. Many high-end travelers already arrive in Costa Rica by private or premium air service, but then depend on road travel or domestic flights to reach hotels, volcano lodges and coastal destinations. Allowing properly regulated private airfields to handle more private flights could shorten transfers to places such as Arenal, Río Celeste, Bajos del Toro and the Northern Zone.
Zeledón said the proposal would allow larger runways and encourage developers to invest in private air infrastructure used by the public. The government has presented the plan as a way to bring more visitors to rural areas, create jobs and spread tourism income outside the country’s two main international airports.
The bill, Legislative File 24.392, was introduced in June 2024 by then-lawmaker Carolina Delgado Ramírez, who now serves as minister of women. It has been assigned to the tourism committee and has not yet recorded a floor vote, meaning the reform still requires action from lawmakers before any expansion could move forward under the proposed framework.
The proposal will likely draw attention beyond the tourism industry because private landing strips are a sensitive topic in Costa Rica. Legal rural airfields are used for tourism, medical access, private travel, agriculture and emergency response, but authorities have also faced pressure to crack down on clandestine strips used by criminal groups. Any expansion plan would therefore depend heavily on Civil Aviation oversight, security controls, zoning rules and environmental review.
The administration is framing the measure as part of a broader development push for the Northern Zone. During the same visit, the government also said work on Route 35, the long-delayed highway to San Carlos, is expected to begin in coming months after the Comptroller General’s Office gave the green light for the central section to move ahead under Costa Rica’s public procurement rules.
The San Carlos highway has been one of Costa Rica’s most delayed public works projects, with residents and business leaders arguing for decades that the Northern Zone needs faster and safer road access to the Central Valley. If the roadwork begins as announced, it would pair with the airfield proposal as part of a larger effort to reduce travel times to one of the country’s most visited inland tourism regions.
The proposal would not change current commercial flight options or airport rules overnight. Its importance is longer term: if approved, it could reshape how high-end travelers move around Costa Rica and where private tourism investment flows next, especially in regions that are harder to reach by road.
The question now moves to the Legislative Assembly. The government has said it wants to use the existing bill to save time. Lawmakers will have to decide whether the tourism and investment benefits outweigh the regulatory, security and planning concerns that come with expanding private air infrastructure.
