The 19 commercial airlines now flying into the Juan Santamaría airport in Alajuela, Costa Rica’s busiest international airport, cut 1,184 flights during the period January to August, 2009 as compared with the same period in 2008.  The reason?  Well the numbers tell the story. The economic crisis has taken its toll on Costa Rican tourism.  During the period January to August of 2008, there were 20,665 flights.  For the same period this year, there were only 19,481, for a 6% decrease.  During that period 117,000 less passengers arrived at the airport (1,053,000 total arrivals versus 1,170,000 during the same period in 2008).  The principal routes that have been cut are from the U.S. as that country accounts for 12 daily flights and over half the total tourism arrivals.  In addition to cutting flights, some airlines are opting to use smaller planes.  For instance, if the market demands at least 80 seats, a 90 seat-er will be more profitable than a plane that seats 150.  William Rodríguez, vice president of the Costa Rican Tourism Chamber, told La Nación that while this year tourism will likely see a sizable decrease compared to the exceptional year of 2008, already the market is beginning to witness a turnaround.  Although ICT (the Tourism Ministry) wants to attract more flights to Costa Rica, Director Mario Zamora noted that now is not a good time to spend money and time trying to do so.  Allan Flores, also with ICT, added that the $20 million allocated by ICT to promotion of tourism in other countries has definitely softened the blow a bit with respect to Costa Rica as compared to other major tourism destinations.

Link to Article in La Nación