Guanacaste is once again connected to London and adds Zurich as a new destination

The Guanacaste Airport (LIR) continues to receive new destinations and airlines. Between November 25 and 28, regular flights from the United Kingdom and Switzerland began, evidencing how the recovery of tourism in Costa Rica is progressing.

From the United Kingdom

After 20 months TUI Airways has resumed flights between London-Gatwick and Liberia, which is of particular importance as it marks the return of all airlines that flew to Guanacaste prior to the pandemic.

TUI Airways will operate a weekly Wednesday flight on 300-seat Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft.

«The arrival of TUI Airways is a positive piece of travel connectivity news for the Guanacaste tourism industry. This allows us to provide quality service and motivate European tourists to fly non-stop to this wonderful destination» said Cesar Jaramillo, Manager of Guanacaste Airport.

TUI joins the 15 airlines that currently fly to Liberia (LIR) and connect Guanacaste with the world.

«We are very pleased to restart our weekly service from London Gatwick to Costa Rica and we are looking forward to welcoming our customers back to enjoy their long-awaited vacations,» said Richard Sofer, Commercial Director of TUI UK.

Data obtained by Aviacionline through the Civil Authority Aviation UK (CAA) indicates that 30,665 passengers were flown between London Gatwick (LGW) and Liberia (LIR) in 2019.

From Switzerland

Last November 28, Edelweiss landed in Guanacaste, its second destination in Costa Rica. The flights will be operated from Zurich (ZRH) with a stopover in San José (SJO) by Airbus A340-300. This is the first time a Lufthansa Group airline operates to Guanacaste.

This brings to three the number of European airlines flying to Liberia, after KLM and TUI.

Only in November, the Guanacaste Airport (LIR) has celebrated the opening of 4 new routes, which means an encouraging winter season 2021-2022 for the aero commercial recovery of the region.