Juan Santamaria Airport is the main entrance for most people who come to Costa Rica and is located only 20 kilometers from the capital city San Jose. The airport carries the name of Costa Rica’s national hero Juan Santamaria (1831 – 1856), born in Alajuela, the city close by the airport. When the infamous William Walker conquered Nicaragua, he extended his ambitions to the rest of Central America. The Costa Rican President assembled an army of volunteers to fight the invaders. During a standoff in Rivas on Nicaraguan soil, Santamaria volunteered to throw a torch on a building from which Walkers’ soldiers offered fierce resistance. During his successful attempt to set the building on fire he was killed by the enemy. Every year on April 11th Juan Santamaria is remembered with a National Holiday for his brave role in Costa Rica’s history. Next to the exits of the arrivals hall outside the airport building you can find the statue of Juan Santamaria, already wounded, with the burning torch in his hand and determined to finish his mission. The history of Costa Rica’s airport itself dates back to 1940’s when the US Army Corps of Engineers constructed the Santamaria Army Base to train B-25 crews. After World War II in 1946 the base was handed over to the Costa Rican authorities. In 1964 the Santamaria Public Airport District was formed, which set off the rapid development of the airport. Nowadays Costa Rica’s Juan Santamaria Airport receives yearly more than 3,000,000 passengers. The two landing strips allow wide body aircrafts to land and take off. All major international airlines fly on San Jose; United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, KLM, Martinair, etc. Being one of Central America’s busiest hubs the airport is home to several Central and South American airlines as Mexicana, Air Panama, Copa Airlines, TACA and Cubana de Aviacion. In 2000 even the legendary Concorde paid Costa Rica’s airport a visit. In the last decade the airport has expanded to be able to the growing number of tourists visiting Costa Rica. Juan Santamaria Airport offers all the commodities a modern airport should offer; VIP-rooms, bars, restaurants, food courts, tax-free shops, car rental companies, etc. Outside the airport it’s a constant coming and going of people, buses and taxis. The airport is well connected with Alajuela, Heredia and San Jose. The major hotels in and around Costa Rica’s capital offer free shuttle services. From the airport it’s a thirty minute drive over a 4 lane highway that leads you straight in the heart of San Jose. For the ones who like a more rural stay after landing in Costa Rica, the regions of Alajuela and Heredia have accommodations in a more natural environment. If you have to get a connecting local flight, you have to go Tobias Bolanos Airport in the Pavas neighborhood of San Jose. From there local flights connect San Jose to regional airports allover Costa Rica.