Sun Country Airlines announced that it will increase its operation from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota to Liberia, Guanacaste, Costa Rica for the high season, between December 2018 and March 2019.

With this increase of 15 flights, the airline will operate a total of 53 flights that will be distributed as follows: 6 in December 2018, 14 in January 2019, 15 in February and 18 in March.

“This increase in operations by Sun Country reflects the continued interest and trust of the US market in the Costa Rica destination. According to projections, this will be one of the largest busy seasons that we have had in recent years. We hope that it will bring with it many benefits for all communities”, said Minister of Tourism, Maria Amalia Revelo.

Minnesota generally suffers severe snowstorms and low temperatures during the winter months, making a flight to the calid Costa Rica highly attractive for its residents during the country’s dry season.

Minneapolis-St. Paul is the largest metropolitan area in the state of Minnesota, with a population of over 3 million.

ICT’s Director of Airline Attraction, Hermes Navarro, added that “our intention is to see tourism from North America grow in a gradual, sustained manner to both international airports”.

He noted that the Juan Santamaría International Airport in Alajuela has had a 6.5% increase in arrivals from North America in May and 7.5% in June. In the specific case of tourists coming from the United States, this percentage rose by 8.2% in May and 9.2% in June.

Meanwhile, in Liberia’s Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport, visits from the three North American markets (United States, Canada and Mexico) to the Guanacaste hub experienced a growth of 8.6% in May and 11.9% in June.

In 2017, 525,661 international arrivals to Costa Rica were recorded in Liberia’s Daniel Oduber airport, 74.7% of which originated in the United States of America. From January to June of the current year, the figure has reached 331,187, according to data from the Directorate-General for Immigration and Foreign Nationals analyzed by ICT. PRESS RELEASE SOURCE: Costa Rica Tourism Board