English
Airline intends to start with charter flights in july
Coopesa is responsible for the painting and maintenance on Boeing 737-300
Company expects to make the first scheduled flight to Guatemala in November
Air Costa Rica, the only airline in Costa Rican capital, has its first aircraft in the country and is a few days of being subjected to maintenance work and a new paint including the national flag on the tail.
The manager of the airline, Carlos Víquez, confirmed that the aircraft came to national soil on 24 March, but until next Monday, May 16 Give you begin arrangements with the goal of putting operations in July.
Víquez said that the delay in the start of the maintenance work is because the self-managed Aeroindustriales Cooperative Services (Coopesa) had no room to intervene the aircraft.
The plane is a Boeing 737-300 with capacity for 149 passengers, which was brought from Ireland and acquired by Air Panama, sister airline Air Costa Rica.
The aircraft, now yellow with white, will be painted all white, bear the hallmark of Air Costa Rica in blue and red, the colors of the flag of Costa Rica in the queue and IT tuition (Tango India, Costa Rica). Also you have some details with national seal.
The airline will bring three planes: one Boeing 737-300 and two Fokker 100 (with space for 100 passengers), the latter two will be used for travel in Central America.
The first flights of Air Costa Rica will charter to destinations such as Punta Cana (Dominican Republic), Roatan Island (Honduras), San Andrés and Cartagena (Colombia) type.
"We are a national reality. We are the first Costa Rican airline XXI century," said Víquez.
Guatemala is the chosen destination for Costa Rican plane made its first scheduled flight.
The date of the first flight is not defined, because until recently began the certification process in Guatemala, which can take three to six months. In addition, once they receive the backing of the Guatemalan authorities should market the flights between Costa Rica and Guatemala, which may take three months.
Víquez hopes that this process is realized before the end of the year.
The following destinations are Panama and Bogota (Colombia). Air Costa Rica intends to start in June the certification process in those countries
A much-missed destination, but it involves a longer way, is Miami. To start the process certficación flying to the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration requires that an airline must have operated regular flights at least for six months.
Air Costa Rica received permission to use the skies and airports of the country since September 2015, but has not yet started operations because they need to have the flight permit in the countries where they want to fly.
"One as an airline can not open all points at once, because opening each destination represents an investment of between $ 200,000 and $ 300,000," said Víquez.
Air Costa Rica is the trade name of Ticas Airlines, a company of Costa Rican investors in conjunction with Air Panama.
