Among the constraints of the current facility is the fact that no full parallel taxiway exists between the runway and the terminal building. Tourism, the root of much of the traffic, stands as Costa Rica's main source of income. More than 800,000 tourists came into the country last year, and Costa Rica's tourism minister in April said he expected that number to jump 10 percent by the end of 1998. Gutierrez went on to cite the country's 95 percent literacy rate, large labor force, stable government and good climate as factors bringing businesses, such at Intel, into Costa Rica. Even a change in the government this May is not perceived as a threat to the process.
All parties are fully committed to making improvements.
Delta's Young agrees, saying the airline has definitely been given considerable flexibility at Juan Santamaria airport. We've been given the freedom to make facility adjustments, greater freedom than in other parts of the world. It is important for airport managers in the United States to have a thorough understanding of what is happening in Latin America right now, Aaronson says. The fledgling aviation industry in the beginning did not have the kind of investors' interest that airports would have in today's environment.