# Guanacaste 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.

## History

The idea for an airport in Guanacaste Province was conceived during the government of Daniel Oduber Quirós (1974–1978). The airport was initially named "Llano Grande", after the surrounding area, 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.
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. Also a firefighter station was added to comply with FAA and international regulations. 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.
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. 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. Also in 2007 a new waiting area and airport counters were opened, the airport was by then receiving more than 180,000 visitors yearly.

## 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 m$^2$ (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. The latter is the project's operator.
The new 23,000 m$^2$ (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. Another expansion, built from January to November 2017, added space for five more airlines.

## 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 |
| American Airlines | Charlotte, Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami Seasonal: Chicago–O'Hare, New York–JFK, Philadelphia |
| Delta Air Lines | Atlanta, Los Angeles Seasonal: Boston, 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 |
| TUI Airways | Seasonal: London–Gatwick |
| United Airlines | Houston–Intercontinental Seasonal: Chicago–O'Hare, Denver, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco |
| WestJet | Calgary, Toronto–Pearson |

## Statistics
### Traffic figures

| | 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 States | 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, and 2016). 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. |||||||