Guanacaste Airport

"Liberia International Airport" redirects here. For the international airport serving the Republic of Liberia, see Roberts International Airport.

Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (IATA: LIR, ICAO: MRLB) — also known as Guanacaste Airport and Liberia International Airport — is one of four international airports in Costa Rica. It sits 11 kilometres (7 mi; 6 nmi) west-southwest of the city of Liberia in Guanacaste Province, and serves as a tourism hub for those who visit the Pacific coast and western Costa Rica. The facility covers 243 hectares (600 acres) of land and has a single 2,750-metre (9,022 ft) runway that can handle wide-body aircraft, including the Boeing 747.^[5]

Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional Daniel Oduber Quirós
IATA: LIR ICAO: MRLB
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Government of Costa Rica
Operator	Coriport S.A.
Serves	Liberia, Costa Rica
Elevation AMSL	82 m / 269 ft
Coordinates	10°35′35″N 85°32′44″W
Website	www.guanacastecrairport.com
Map
LIR/MRLB Location in Costa Rica
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 07/25 2,750 9,022 Asphalt
Statistics (2022)
Passengers 1,392,698 Passenger change 21–22 80.4% Aircraft movements 21,405 Movements change 21–22 16.0%
Source: AIP[1] DGAC[2] SkyVector[3] Google Maps[4]

History

Main building interior, passenger check-in area

The idea for an airport in Guanacaste Province was conceived during the government of Daniel Oduber Quirós (1974–1978).^[6] The airport was initially named "Llano Grande", after the surrounding area,^[6] then renamed "Aeropuerto Tomas Guardia," and finally honor Quirós for his work for the province of Guanacaste. Today, most people call it "Liberia International Airport", and in 2021 the name was changed to Guanacaste Airport for branding purposes.^[7]

In October 1995, the airport was re-inaugurated as an international airport. To support this expansion of operations, the pavement on the runway was redone and special landing lights were installed.^[6] Also a firefighter station was added to comply with FAA and international regulations.^[8] Initial response from commercial airlines to the expansion was timid; after one year, however, the airport went from having only one weekly charter flight to one almost every day.^[9]

In 2006, to manage increased demand of the airport, the government and local tourism chamber boards set aside funds to increase the parking capacity of the tarmac from five to eight airplanes, and for the construction of a parallel taxiway.^[10] The government made it clear that the solutions were only temporary and that a private company would need to be contracted to expand and operate the airport in the future.^[10] Also in 2007 a new waiting area and airport counters were opened,^[11] the airport was by then receiving more than 180,000 visitors yearly.^[11]

Expanded terminal and new operator

In the 2010s, the government of Costa Rica awarded CORIPORT, S.A., a 20-year concession to design, finance, construct and operate a new terminal building and associated facilities on about 36,000 m² (390,000 sq ft) of land then occupied by the existing terminal and associated facilities. CORIPORT's shareholders include MMM Aviation Group, Emperador Pez Espada S.R.L., Inversiones Cielo Claro LTDA, Cocobolo Inversiones S.R.L., and ADC&HAS Airports Worldwide.^[12] The latter is the project's operator.

The new 23,000 m² (250,000 sq ft) terminal building has a contemporary design that is larger and more efficient than the old one. Construction started on 19 October 2010; the terminal opened on 12 January 2012.^[13] Another expansion, built from January to November 2017, added space for five more airlines.^[14]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Air Canada	Toronto–Pearson Seasonal: Montréal–Trudeau
Air Transat	Montréal–Trudeau Seasonal: Toronto–Pearson
Alaska Airlines	Los Angeles Seasonal: San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma[15]
American Airlines	Charlotte, Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami Seasonal: Chicago–O'Hare, New York–JFK, Philadelphia[16]
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta, Los Angeles[17] Seasonal: Boston,[18] Minneapolis/St. Paul
Edelweiss Air	Seasonal: Zurich
JetBlue	New York–JFK Seasonal: Boston
Sansa Airlines	Nosara, Quepos, San José–Juan Santamaría, Tamarindo, Tambor
Southwest Airlines	Denver, Houston–Hobby Seasonal: Baltimore
Sun Country Airlines	Seasonal: Dallas/Fort Worth, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Sunwing Airlines	Toronto–Pearson Seasonal: Montréal–Trudeau
United Airlines	Houston–Intercontinental Seasonal: Chicago–O'Hare, Denver, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco
WestJet	Calgary, Toronto–Pearson

Statistics

Traffic figures

LIR passenger totals, 2000–present (thousands)

Source: Directorate General of Civil Aviation

	Number of passengers	Percentage change	Number of movements	Percentage change
2000	91,206	–	9,095	–
2001	87,145	04.45%	6,347	030.21%
2002	61,948	028.91%	6,467	01.89%
2003	98,495	059.00%	7,089	09.62%
2004	203,823	0106.94%	9,955	040.43%
2005	303,171	048.74%	12,754	028.12%
2006	391,567	029.16%	13,852	08.61%
2007	423,327	08.11%	14,592	05.34%
2008	442,902	04.62%	16,615	013.86%
2009	396,188	010.55%	12,716	023.47%
2010	311,009	021.50%	11,720	07.83%
2011	539,610	073.50%	11,695	00.21%
2012	668,762	023.93%	13,005	011.20%
2013	680,355	01.73%	14,059	08.10%
2014	779,757	014.61%	15,366	09.30%
2015	878,365	012.65%	19,468	026.70%
2016	1,146,163	030.49%	20,758	06.63%
2017	1,092,483	04.68%	21,037	01.34%
2018	1,116,810	02.19%	20,799	01.14%
2019	1,148,811	02.87%	19,630	05.62%
2020	453,877	060.49%	10,096	048.57%
2021	771,986	070.09%	18,446	082.71%
2022	1,392,698	080.40%	21,405	016.04%
Source: Directorate General of Civil Aviation of Costa Rica

Top international destinations

Busiest international routes to and from LIR (Jan. 2016 – Dec. 2016)

	Airport	Arrivals	Departures	Total	2015-2016	Carriers
1	Houston, United States1	151,602	147,711	299,313	039.95%	Southwest, United
2	Atlanta, United States	66,719	70,254	138,765	00.15%	Delta
3	Los Angeles, United States	66,971	70,254	134,623	0402.19%	Alaska, Delta, Southwest
4	New York City, United States	48,778	48,293	97,071	033.36%	Delta, Jetblue
5	Toronto, Canada	47,338	44,787	92,125	07.88%	Air Canada, Air Transat, Sunwing, WestJet
6	Miami, United States	44,183	47,153	91,336	021.99%	American
7	Newark, United States	12,472	26,025	38,497	017.44%	United
8	London, United Kingdom	15,592	14,593	30,185	0	TUI Airways
9	Dallas, United States	13,774	14,594	28,323	027.90%	American
10	Minneapolis, United States	13,608	14,013	27,621	068.81%	Delta, Sun Country
11	Chicago, United States	12,300	13,651	25,951	025.39%	United
12	Calgary, Canada	9,202	9,465	18,667	01476.6%	WestJet
13	Montreal, Canada	6,129	7,263	13,392	08.27%	Air Canada, Air Transat, Sunwing
14	Panama City, Panama	5,245	5,897	12,194	08.63%	Copa
15	Denver, United States	5,823	5,543	11,366	071.82%	Southwest, United
Source: Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Air Transportation Statistical Yearbook (Years 2015,[19] and 2016[20]). Notes: ^1 United flies to Houston-Intercontinental Airport, and Southwest flies to Houston-Hobby Airport. The data here is for traffic between LIR and all airports in Houston.

See also

• List of airports in Costa Rica
• Transport in Costa Rica