Costa Rica radar outage triggers spillover delays at SJO, LIR

Published on Sep 25, 2025, 10:53 am CDT

5 min read

Costa Rica halted all flights for roughly five hours on September 24 after an electrical failure disabled the national radar network, forcing a temporary closure of airspace and freezing operations at Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) and Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (LIR). Authorities reopened just before late morning, but the pause created a two-wave backlog as crews, aircraft, and slots realigned. Travelers connecting across Central America should plan for day-after ripple delays and occasional re-timings as carriers work through repositioning.

Key points

Why it matters: A five-hour radar blackout cascaded across banks at SJO and LIR, pushing knock-on delays into September 25.
Travel impact: At least 44 SJO flights disrupted; diversions and late-night recoveries will affect Central America connections.
What's next: DGAC review underway; schedules stabilize as aircraft and crews re-sync over 24-36 hours.
First-party updates came from airport operators and the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica.
Sample affected flights and practical rebooking steps listed below.

Snapshot

Civil aviation officials said the electrical failure occurred before dawn on September 24, closing Costa Rica's airspace from about 600 a.m. until just before 1100 a.m. local time. Airport operator AERIS confirmed a gradual restart at SJO around 1040 a.m., while Guanacaste Airport reported radar restoration at 1036 a.m. Reuters cited at least 44 flights affected at SJO alone, and local tallies indicated more than 4,500 passengers impacted as carriers paused departures, diverted arrivals, or held aircraft until the system returned. With two hubs offline simultaneously, downline schedules across Central America, Mexico, and northern South America absorbed delays that will take additional cycles to unwind.

Background

Costa Rica relies on a centralized surveillance and control system; a localized electrical issue at SJO's radar site propagated system-wide, forcing a safety stand-down. Authorities reopened airspace once technicians restored power and verified functionality. The pause overlapped morning and midday banks, which typically feed connections through San José to North America and South America and through Liberia to leisure gateways. Even after reopening, crews hit duty limits, aircraft missed assigned slots, and irregular ops created baggage and connection mismatches. Those structural factors, not just the outage window, explain why ripple delays extend into the day after a shutdown.

Latest developments

Affected flights and operational notes

Local and international operators reported widespread disruption on September 24. Highlights include:

At least 44 flights impacted at SJO as reported by airport operator AERIS. Numbers continued to update through the afternoon as airlines re-timed operations. ([Reuters][1])
Volaris Costa Rica Q64068 (SJO-GUA) diverted, then continued onward to Mexico City as the system restarted and routings were reworked. ([FlightAware][2])
One Alaska Airlines flight from Los Angeles to San José diverted to Guatemala City, according to aviation incident reporting. ([Aviation24.be][3])
Countrywide pause 600 a.m. to just before 1100 a.m. local; both SJO and LIR confirmed resumption once radar returned. ([AP News][4])

Airline policies and waivers

As of the morning of September 25, airlines primarily directed customers to reschedule via official channels and social posts; broad fee-waiver programs specific to Costa Rica were not universally published. The Associated Press noted carriers used social media to advise rebooking, while standard travel-alert pages remained the main reference. Check your airline's travel-alerts page and manage trips in-app for fastest reaccommodation. ([AP News][4])

If you are connecting via San José (SJO) or Liberia (LIR) today

Pad your connection. Aim for 3+ hours on separate tickets; for through-tickets, ask to be protected on the next available if inbound is late. Gate agents can reissue boarding passes and re-tag bags.
Use alternates. Viable detours today include Guatemala City (GUA), Panama City (PTY), San Salvador (SAL), Mexico City (MEX), or Bogotá (BOG), then a short-haul back to Costa Rica once banks normalize. Ask agents to check alliance partners.
Watch duty-time cuts. Evening pushes may thin if crews time out. If you misconnect after 10:00 p.m., request hotel and meal vouchers per your carrier's irregular-ops policy.
Track bags. If you diverted, use your airline app's baggage tab; ask for a WorldTracer file if your bag misses the connection.
Document delays. Keep boarding passes and receipts for any claim. Some credit cards include trip-delay coverage once delays exceed the benefit threshold.

Analysis

Radar outages are rare, but when they occur at a national node they behave like hub power cuts: the initial five-hour pause is only half the story. The real drag comes from aircraft and crews that wind up in the wrong places at the wrong times, eroding later banks and thinning spare capacity to absorb new delays. San José's role as a north-south connector magnifies that effect, pushing schedule changes into Mexico City, Guatemala City, and Panama City. AERIS's gradual restart timeline, along with Guanacaste's similar cadence, suggests conservative ramp-up that prioritizes spacing and crew legality. For travelers, the practical takeaway is to build slack into today's connections, prefer single-ticket itineraries where the operating carrier must protect you, and consider proactive re-routes via nearby hubs with multiple daily frequencies. Expect a cleaner operation by late evening as rotations catch up, with full normalization after one or two cycles.

Final thoughts

Costa Rica's radar outage exposed how tightly banked schedules depend on surveillance continuity. With airspace back online and flows improving, the smartest move is to rebook early, choose resilient routings, and add buffer time through SJO or LIR. If your trip is flexible, sliding a day reduces risk and preserves vacation time on the ground. Crews, aircraft, and slots should align quickly, but a few lingering delays may persist into the evening. Keep notifications on, stay near your gate, and you will ride out the last ripples from the Costa Rica radar outage.