Daniel Oduber Airport: Between Delays and Fines

Photo by Mauricio Mora

The new terminal at Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia is one of the most anticipated projects in the country and especially in Guanacaste; however, although the government announced it would begin operations during the month of November, many setbacks have delayed its entry into operation.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is in charge of overseeing the work on site. It has said that the expected opening will occur once everything is ready.The Canadian-American-Costa Rican consortium known as Coriport, licensee of the work, will have to submit a financial penalty of over $ 3,000 per day for the delays.

The completion of the works was scheduled for April 25, but details are still unfinished, according to the DGAC.The fines are faults stipulated by Coriport, who has also assumed the operation of the Daniel Oduber for 20 years.

The fines will start to be computed from May 30 until the date on which the new terminal should have been completed.The new terminal consists of two floors of 23,000 square meters with about 7 hectares for the development of commercial projects associated with the airport.

• Counters: Every airline operating at the airport will have its own space.

• Commercial area: shops, restaurants, and kiosks

• Offices: for the operation of Immigration and Customs, and Enforcement Forces

• Common areas: there is room for the attendance of 1,500 passengers.

• Land access for vehicles• Public Parking• Parking spaces for taxis and mini-buses

• Areas of passenger processing, documentation and tickets, baggage handling, security and government control

• Boarding gates: four of them with boarding bridges

• Health services: stations with bathroom services on both stories of the building.

The DGAC confirmed that the building is almost ready, but that some security issues, the signage, the access to the terminal areas and the air conditioning are still pending.

These delays result in not having a definite opening date; according to the DGAC, operations will not start until they have obtained the official handover of the works.

Obstacles and opportunitiesThe airport will have to cope with the high season that is about to start with the staff it currently has in public office (employees of customs, immigration, weather, security and civil aviation officials to manage the radar, dispatchers, drivers , among others), since the Ministry of Finance has not given the green light to the opening of new jobs.

According to the Ministry of Finance, they cannot create new positions given the cost-containment measures the current administration has set.

The new terminal was expected to generate about 100 additional new jobs, of which ADC & HAS Management Costa Rica, SA -Operator of the concession- and by commercial venues already granted would employ about 75.

The terminal will have 27 counters, art and souvenir shops, restaurants, advertising spots, car rental counters, a 283-m2 VIP lounge, accommodation information, ATMs, currency exchange, a convenience store, and a security checking point for visitor and airport employees’ access.

Coriport S.A. obtained the Liberia airport concession in June 2009 to start the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the new terminal. The concession also includes the development and management of the existing terminal in order to turn it into a park for commercial aviation. Some of the companies that will be located in the commercial areas are:

• Britt shop (chocolates, jewelry, books, magazines and convenience store)

• Bertero (souvenirs)

• Global Red Oaks – Corteza del Mar (souvenirs)