Juan Santamaría International Airport

Juan Santamaría International Airport is the primary airport serving San José, the capital of Costa Rica. The airport is located in the city of Alajuela, 20 km west of downtown San José. It is named after Costa Rica's national hero, Juan Santamaría, a courageous drummer boy who died in 1856 defending his country against forces led by US-American filibuster William Walker.The airport is hub of local airline Nature Air and Sansa Airlines, and focus city airport for Copa Airlines and Avianca. It was the country's only international gateway for many years, but nowadays there is also an international airport in Liberia, Guanacaste. Both airports have direct flights to North and Central America and Europe, with the difference that Juan Santamaría International Airport also serves cities in South America and the Caribbean.The airport's main runway allows for operations of large, widebody aircraft. Currently, some scheduled flights are operated with Airbus A330 and A340, and Boeing 747, 767 and 777, for both passengers and freight. A Concorde landed in 1999 for that year's airshow. The airport has also a small hangar where research aircraft are kept that operate in Costa Rica including the Martin B-57 Canberra high altitude aircraft.