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Juan
Santamaría Airport
Juan Santamaría International
Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría) (IATA: SJO,
ICAO: MROC) is located 20 km from San José, Costa Rica. It is named
after Juan Santamaría, a courageous drummer boy who died in 1856
defending his country against forces led by American adventurer William Walker.
The airport, which is Costa Rica's primary airport, serves about one million
people each year, a great number of them tourists from Canada and the United
States. There are three other international airports in the country but only
the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste is served by
major airlines.
Alajuela, the birthplace
of Juan Santamaría, is located
3 km from the airport.
The airport has the usual assortment of
duty-free shops. It also has a food court that includes three fast-food
restaurants.
Juan Santamaria International has been operated by Alterra
Partners since 2001 as part of a plan to improve the airport by the Costa Rican
government. The relationship between Alterra and the government has been
difficult and this situation has delayed the modernization plans.
Juan
Santamaria charges a $26 USD departure tax which can be paid in cash (U.S.
dollars or Costa Rican colones) or by Visa (Master Card and Amex are not
accepted).
Ground
Transportation
There is a bus stop outside the airport. The
Alajuela-San José route buses stop there in both directions. Buses from
other routes also stop there, but you might have to change buses to get to the
city center.
Taxis charge US$14 and upward for trips to San
José, with some unlicensed taxis charging considerably more. Taxis will
generally accept both colones and U.S. dollars, but not other currencies.
Licensed taxis are orange.
There is an ATM at the baggage claim area
(VISA, MasterCard) and another in the second level by the curbside of the
entrance to departures (Visa, MasterCard, American Express) that dispenses
colones and US dollars.
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