Coriport S.A.

Coriport is a special-purpose company that won an international public tender to build and operate the new passenger terminal of the Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (“AIDOQ”) in Liberia, Guanacaste province. AIDOQ is the second largest international airport in Costa Rica and is strategically located in an area with much tourism and other economic activities. Coriport is composed of two well-known and experienced firms in the international aeronautics sector: ADC & HAS, from the US, and MMM Aviation Group S.A., from Canada, as well as a number of prestigious local and international minority investors.

The basis for this new IIC operation is Coriport’s need to move up by two years the timetable for the capital investments needed for certain construction projects and equipment for the terminal, as well as expansion of the main boarding gates. This will be achieved mainly through refinancing of financial liabilities to slightly extend the term for maturity of the initial loans, although it will remain within the period approved in the concession agreement.

These investments will enable Coriport to serve between 45% and 60% more passengers during the high season months, but especially during peak traffic times for international flights, which generally tend to be concentrated in specific periods of a few hours each day A large majority (95%) of the flights that land in Liberia come from airports that operate as international hubs, which limits the airport’s flexibility as far as being able to space out the arrivals and departures of flights to and from the airport. 

Another of the IIC’s objectives for this new operation—this objective a long-term one—is to consolidate the recovery and growth of the tourism sector in Guanacaste as a destination in Latin America. The coming years are expected to see the opening of at least 4,000 high-end hotel rooms in AIDOQ’s area of influence. These hotels will continue to invest and create jobs in rural areas that are relatively remote from the traditional opportunities that can be found more easily in the urban areas of the country.