From December 19^th to January 2014, United Airlines will increase the number of non-stop flights to the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) from the following departure locations: George Bush International Airport in Houston and Newark Liberty International in New Jersey. United Airlines plans to assign Boeing 737-800 aircraft to these additional flights; these are airplanes that can seat 152 passengers.

 

In Houston, the four additional flights to Costa Rica will be scheduled on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. In Newark, the number of holiday flights will increase by two: one on Saturday and one on Sunday. United’s combination of additional non-stop flights to Costa Rica aboard 737-800 aircraft makes it the airline with the most available seats between our country and the United States during the busy holiday travel season.

 

Speaking to business magazine Revista Summa, Minister of Tourism Wilhelm von Breymann explained that the announcement by United Airlines proves that the collective efforts by the tourism sector to attract more visitors to Costa Rica are paying off. Minister von Breymann also stated that:

 

The United States is the foremost generator of tourism for Costa Rica. Just last year we saw in excess of 1.6 million international arrivals to our airports, and nearly 54 percent came from the U.S. For this reason, we can see that the additional flights by United Airlines will make it easier for us to attract more tourists who live near these major metropolitan areas.

 

In other news from United Airlines, the carrier recently announced that it plans to take delivery of Boeing’s new version of its massive 787 Dreamliner, which made headlines last year when aviation official ordered the entire fleet to be grounded for three months so that a battery overheating issue could be addressed. United Airlines now intends to acquire the Boeing 787-9 which is the largest Dreamliner thus far.