Airlines

The new airlines will operate flights between the two Central American countries three times a week.

Airlines operating in Costa Rica finally can start including the country’s $29 exit tax into the cost of flights next week, according to Vice President Ana Helena Chacón, who made the announcement at the president’s weekly press conference at Casa Presidencial on Tuesday. But no airlines have yet announced when they will begin using the Exonet system.

Tourists who thought they were heading home after their vacation to Costa Rica this morning found out that they were getting at least one more day in paradise.

Media reports on Monday stating that Colombian carrier Avianca will suspend three of its flights from Costa Rica to Mexico, Brazil and Chile starting next month have alarmed many of the airline's customers. In a response, however, the airline denied that those routes will be cancelled or suspended.

Southwest Executive Vice President Robert Jordan said that customers can expect fares as low as $130 one way from Baltimore-Washington International Airport and that the company’s discount reputation would hold true abroad with fares on average 30 to 40 percent lower than their competitors.

Over the weekend United Airlines inaugurated a new weekly nonstop flight from San José, Costa Rica, to George Bush International Airport in Houston, Texas, in the United States. It is the carrier’s fifth weekly flight on the route and operates four days a week, from Friday to Monday, departing at 1:45 a.m.

Costa Rica-based airline SANSA inaugurated this week a new route from the Juan Santamaría International Airport outside of San José to the Limón Airport on the Caribbean coast. The airline uses Cessna Grand Caravan 208B airplanes with a capacity of 12 passengers for a 40-minute flight.

Following the announcement last week that Costa Rica’s $29 airport exit tax will be rolled into the price of airline tickets beginning Dec. 3, Bancrédito officials have clarified that they will continue collecting the tax at airport counters for at least 90 more days to facilitate travelers who already purchased tickets.

Costa Rican officials are moving to eliminate an extra bureaucratic step for travelers who depart Costa Rica by air. Beginning Dec. 3, the country's $29 airport exit tax will be rolled into the price of airline tickets, Vice President Ana Helena Chacón said on Tuesday.

The U.S. discount carrier Spirit Airlines said Monday it would open four weekly flights between San José and Houston beginning on May 28, 2015.