An international group from experts known as OACI (International Organization Civil Aviation) will be coming to Costa Rica on April the 30th to validate the proposal of a new Airport in Palma Sur, (Osa Area)

Before I answer your primary question, which is where is Palma Sur; or Osa for what matters, let me start giving you some information on this OACI group.

The OACI is a group of specialist on aeronautics, airport construction, transport economy, airport engineering, hydraulics, and electric engineering. (So yes they actually know quite a lot.) They will be working along the Costa Rica General Aviation Directory representatives to evaluate the quality of the terrain, environmental impact of the project, and climatologically studies.

So now that we know a bit more about them, let’s move on.

Palma Sur, is actually at a very short distance from Panama, in a quite unexplored zone in Costa Rica; there is a lot of natural reserves in this zone which could make the progress of the project a little difficult. (In terms of studies)

Just to let you know how serious these guys are regarding the project, let me tell you that the initial amount invested by JODESUR (The Developing Group for the South Zone) is of 600 million colones (Costa Rica currency)

Their goal is to finish the first part of the project by 2010, that is the terminal and a landing pad for small aircrafts (50 passengers) and eventually expand it to accommodate bigger transports (110 – 215 passengers)

The new Costa Rica airport proposal could certainly make an impact on the South region of the country, and the benefits regarding tourism would certainly increase a lot; never the less I have my doubts on this one. Mostly because of the location, and the lots of protected space in the region; this could limit potential developing projects.

I will be following this one with great interest.