The General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) of Costa Rica has ordered again for the closure of the Daniel Oduber International Airport (LIR), in Liberia, so it must suspend operations until Thursday.
The operator of the airport, Coriport, confirmed on Monday morning that he was notified of the provision.The closure order extends until 6 a.m. on November 21.
This measure comes three days after the closure was ordered for 12 hours, due to the repair of three "potholes" on the airport runway, as per the director general of Civil Aviation, Marco Castillo.
"As concessionaires of the land part of the airport, we abide by the decision and hope that this will be a decisive intervention on the runway. The recent cancellations do not allow us to provide the quality service to which our business partners and passengers are accustomed," Coriport said in a press release.
The concessionaire asked passengers to contact their airlines to reschedule their flights as soon as possible.
There is criticism, the National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur), the Guanacasteca Chamber of Tourism (Caturgua) the Costa Rican Chamber of Hotels (CCH), and the Costa Rican Association of Tour Operators (ACOT) criticized the "operational disorder" due to the reopening and subsequent closure without prior notice of the terminal's runway.
The statement describes the situation as "chaotic", as well as other interventions that the runway has required and underlines the impact on Costa Rica's image as a tourist destination, which affects the credibility of airlines and the experience of tourists due to the inconveniences and uncertainty caused.
Likewise, the sector emphasized the impact of the measures taken on the business community due to the rescheduling of flights, the penalties for last-minute changes and the compensation to affected tourists.
Luis Miranda, deputy director of Civil Aviation, justified the sudden measure by damage to the runway as a result of the torrential rains of the last two weeks that caused overflows and floods and at least 3,500 evacuees in different sectors of Guanacaste, Puntarenas and the south of the country.
"Due to the unusual amount of rainfall manifested during the last few days, some damage has been manifested on the runway of the Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport," he explained.
As per Luis Miranda, the closure for 72 hours is to attend to the work that has already been done on cold asphalt in case it is necessary to reinforce them with hot asphalt and to be able to make a comprehensive evaluation of the state of the runway where its correct operation is guaranteed.
The president of the Chamber of Tourism, Martí Jiménez said,
"The lack of foresight and coordination is unacceptable. Tourists are stuck unable to arrive or leave the country as planned, and airlines face logistical chaos. The Government is failing in its duty to provide effective and clear solutions to manage this emergency,"
The absence of clear and timely information for the sector is being questioned here. In this context, the Executive Branch is required to assume responsibility for what happened and guarantee a more orderly management.
"We demand from the Government certainty in the reopening of the airport, but also a clear action plan that includes specific deadlines and guarantees to avoid further improvisations. This lack of seriousness compromises our competitiveness as a destination and undermines the confidence of those who choose Costa Rica as their vacation destination," Jiménez added.
The chambers highlighted that they demanded immediate and concrete solutions to give certainty to the Travel and Tourism sector.The statement emphasizes that the country cannot afford to lose the confidence of international markets or its prestige.
