On the occasion of the International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR) held in Madrid, Costa Rica’s Minister of Tourism, Gustavo Segura, and Iberia’s Commercial Director and María Jesús López Solás, Director of Network Development and Alliances, renewed an agreement to continue promoting this popular Central American tourist destination through the company’s network of 90 destinations in Spain and Europe.
This commitment, which dates back to 2006, demonstrates Iberia’s support for high-performance tourism, a bet to promote the quality of service and the uniqueness of its natural heritage of flora and fauna.
Figures obtained by Aviacionline through the Costa Rican Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) indicate that in 2019, Iberia was the main European airline in Costa Rica, where it carried 204,543 passengers and 4,975 tons of cargo.
The agreement between the Spanish airline and the Costa Rican Ministry includes promotion through Iberia’s channels, such as the in-flight magazine Ronda Iberia, banners on its website, and advertising through social networks, among others.
Further recovery in 2022
It is worth mentioning that Costa Rica was the first country in Latin America to reopen its borders to tourism in 2020 (among those that closed them) after the first wave of COVID-19. This has turned the Central American country into a leading vacation destination, with the Costa Rican capital being one of the first long-haul destinations to be recovered by Iberia.
According to Aena Estadísticas, during 2021, on the Madrid (MAD) – San José (SJO) route, 134,918 passengers and more than 4,100 tons of cargo were transported in 626 air operations, with Iberia leading the market.
During the signing of the agreement, López Solás emphasized the potential of the route and hopes to recover the daily flight operation offered prior to the pandemic. Iberia currently has six daily flights between Madrid and San José.
The company plans to offer more than 145,000 seats annually and has scheduled the Airbus A330-200 aircraft, with a capacity for 288 passengers in 2 classes, 19 in Business Class and 269 in economy class. During the 2019 northern winter season Iberia also operated Airbus A350-900s.
«Next June we will celebrate the 49th anniversary of our first flight to Costa Rica, a destination that was also the first in Central America to link it with a direct flight. Since then, together we have maintained our alliance that has strengthened, even more, if possible, the historical ties that have always united us through our main strength: continuing to be the bridge that improves connectivity between this region and Europe,» commented María Jesús López Solás.
