The Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia Guanacaste has experienced a dizzying growth in popularity over the past few years.  The tourism offer increase in the region as well as its proximity to all major beaches in the North Pacific coast has made it a preferred point of arrival to Costa Rica by tourists.

However, the increasing flight arrival and tourist influx has surpassed the airport’s capacity much faster than what authorities have had the chance to expand the facilities.  In just five years, a 600% increase in passenger arrival has been reported going from a total of 56,000 in 2002 to 400,000 in 2007.  As for the airplane docking area, the airport can currently fit seven 737’s at a time.

The expansion that is currently taking place, will add over 365,000 square feet to the docking area which will allow for 2 large fuselage planes to fit such as the Boeing 767 and Airbus A330.  The company in charge has already begun working on this 6.1 million dollar investment and should be completed by January 2009.

The expansion has been started before the airport’s concession is turned over to the Houston Airport System Development Corporation (HASDC) due to the increasing flight demand.  During the high season, the Daniel Oduber International Airport has an approximate 52 flights per day while during the low season the amount is an approximate 31 flights per day.

When HASDC takes control, the passenger area will also be expanded to include a two-story building with a 1,500 passenger capacity.  The set date for the terminal expansion has been set to the year 2010 by which authorities expect at least half a million passengers to use the facilities.

As an added precaution of the region’s fast growth, the Municipality of Guanacaste has suspended commercial building permits around the airport in case further expansion will be required in the future.

Officials think buyers may make noise complaints Michael Rose • Statesman Journal

Prompted by concerns that noise complaints from neighbors could threaten the airport, the Salem Airport Advisory Commission has called for a review of the city’s land-use and zoning policies.
he airport commission sent a letter to the Salem Planning Commission asking it to consider how new housing projects might lead to conflicts with airport operations. The former Fairview Training Center site and land near Kuebler Boulevard are of “particular concern,” the letter states.

The airport commission wants the city to analyze land-use regulations for areas under airport traffic patterns. Moreover, it wants to ensure that prospective home buyers understand the airport was there first.

“We just think it’s wise that anybody purchasing property realize they are under the final approach path to the airport,” said Tim Hay, the chairman of the Salem Airport Advisory Commission.
Among airport commission’s list of recommendations: requiring that home buyers at the Pringle Creek Community — an acclaimed sustainable development under construction on 32 acres of the Fairview site — be made aware of their property’s proximity to the airport. The commission suggests that buyers of Pringle Creek homes sign a disclosure document that acknowledges the airport’s proximity.

Don Myers, who is president of the company building Pringle Creek, said the commission’s letter “really doesn’t have any merit.”

“We get absolutely no airplane traffic over Pringle Creek,” Myers said.

Housing subdivisions clustered near airports sometimes have led to organized efforts by neighbors to close the facilities. The airport advisory commission said about 60 U.S. airports per year are closed because of “residential encroachment.”

Dan Dorn, the chairman of the Salem Planning Commission, said he supports creating a strategy to strike a balance between the airport’s needs and neighborhood livability.

“I think it’s probably timely for the planning commission to take a look at how those areas in the flight path are zoned and what the comp plans say about them,” Dorn said. The planning commission intends to draft a letter to Salem City Council, asking it to address the issues raised by the airport advisory commission, he said.

mrose@StatesmanJournal.com or (503)399-6657.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANY&NJ) on Tuesday filed a motion with the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Washington, D.C., circuit requesting to join a suit that seeks to invalidate an FAA plan to auction flight slots at New York metropolitan airports.

The Air Transport Association filed the original suit in the same court.

The move came after FAA on Tuesday announced that it had initiated a notice of investigation to determine whether the PANY&NJ will violate federal regulations if it bars airlines from using takeoff and landing slots at Kennedy International, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports if the slots are acquired by auction.

FAA said that, under law, airports receiving federal grants are required to provide airlines with reasonable and nondiscriminatory access to their facilities. As part of its investigation, FAA said it will evaluate whether the port authority’s Aug. 4 proposal is unlawfully interfering with the airlines’ ability to access takeoff and landing slots at the airports by discouraging bidders from participating in slot auctions.

“If the proposal by the port authority is in fact discouraging open access to the airports, the port authority may no longer be eligible for FAA grants, or payments under existing grants, until the matter is resolved,” FAA said. The agency said it also could issue an immediate cease and desist order requiring the port authority to grant access to the airports.

The PANY&NJ explained that its court action said that the proposed FAA slot auction would result in higher costs for airlines, increased ticket prices for airline passengers and fewer flights to small communities.

Earlier this month, the port authority issued a Notice of Proposed Action that would bar flight activity at the New York metropolitan airports for aircraft operating under auction-acquired slots. The proposal also would prohibit those aircraft from any other use of the airports, such as the lease of gate space in terminals or parking positions on the airfield, except for emergencies.