Bolaños International (named after Costa
Rica’s rst pilot) to the main terminal at Juan
Santamaría International Airport. However,
one return service to Liberia is still own from
Tobías Bolaños; this early morning departure
is mainly for local workers with a return trip
in the evening. International destinations are
currently Managua in Nicaragua (since March
2011) and the beach resort of Bocas del Toro
on the Panamanian Caribbean coast.
The busiest routes own are from San
José to Liberia in the northwest and to
Puerto Jiménez in the south. Proposed new
destinations include David and Panama City
in Panama, Ometepe and Costa Esmeralda
in Nicaragua and Flores and San Andrés
in Colombia. No decision has yet been
made on the airline using larger types,
although the Saab 340 or Embraer
EMB 120 Brasília have been mooted.
The quick-change cabin
arrangement in the L 410s enables
subsidiary Nature Air Cargo to offer
more charter ights utilising eet
downtime. Although both types carry
19 passengers, the L 410s are more
cost effective than the Twin Otter as
they can carry more freight/baggage.
Cruising at 197kts compared with
140kts for the Twin Otter, ight times
are much reduced and the fuel cost per
ight works out similar for both types.COLOURFUL FLEET
All of Nature Air’s eet have carried exotic
colour schemes inspired by the ora, fauna,
culture and beauty of Costa Rica and its
surrounding nations. Before the L 410s
arrived, a competition called ‘Your art in the
air!’ was organised last September to give
Costa Rican and Nicaraguan artists the
opportunity to compete to have their designs
displayed on the new aircraft.
Different artwork was required for both
sides of the four aircraft and the results are
spectacular. The port side of TI-BGQ depicts
a vision of a street in Granada, Nicaragua, by
Alexandro Soto. Her line of colourful doorscleverly incorporates the main passenger
entrance, while the starboard side features
a design with an exotic bird on the n. A
huge frog decorates the port side of TI-BGO
and a design of cartoon animals and birds
by 25-year-old ‘erotic illustrator’ Stephanie
Chaves was chosen for the starboard side of
TI-BGP.
The rough roads in Costa Rica are awfully
slow and air travel for the small percentage
of the ve million population that can afford it
can be a great time saver. The 14-hour car
ride from San José to Managua in Nicaragua
is a mere 55 minutes by air and the four-hour
road trip to the popular holiday destination of
Liberia takes only 30 minutes.
Check-in for domestic ights is
just one hour and, depending on the
fare structure, you can take up to
40lb (18kg) of luggage. However, the
cheaper ‘Locos’ fares only allows 15lb
(7kg) and with passengers weighed
together with their hand baggage there
is no escaping the excess baggage
fees. Anyone weighing more than
250lb (113kg) has to buy an extra seat.
With an increased focus on the
impact people are having on the
environment, more airlines may look to
follow Nature Air’s lead.http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 51Each of the carrier’s aircraft features different artwork on each side, inspired by the ora, fauna,
culture and beauty of Costa Rica and its neighbouring countries. Dennis AlvaradoThe airline’s four Let L 410 UVP-E20s have been leased
under a three-year deal worth $2.5m. Dennis AlvaradoThe front part of the passenger cabin on a
Nature Air L 410. Tom Singfi eld48-51_nature.JR.mf.indd 51 28/04/2016 17:35