Narayan AmmachchiCosta Rica has set about building a new international airport in 1,500-hectares of sprawling land on the outskirts of capital San Jose.
President Luis Guillermo Solís has recently signed an executive decree for the acquisition of land needed for the airport, according to the Tico Times. If everything goes according to the plan, the facility will be up and running by 2027.
The airport will spring up in an area six times the size of the Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO), which currently accounts for 83% of air traffic in the Central American country.
The government is looking to partner with private firms for the construction, as it will have to raise a staggering US$4 billion for the acquisition of the land itself.
The new airport would have the capacity to operate at least 38 flights per hour: 21 departures and 17 arrivals, the Costa Rican paper has reported.
Mott MacDonald, a British consulting firm commissioned to create a blueprint of the project, has also recommended construction of highways and railroads to link the airport with the city of San Jose.
Once the new airport becomes operational, the Juan Santamaría Airport will be limited to operating local flights and private jets.
Mott MacDonald estimates that the new airport will handle about 7.8 million passengers in the first year of its operation increasing the passengers’ number to 20 million by 2047.
Add comment