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It is all about expectations--Costa Rica is advancing nicely, and as a long-time resident and soon-to-be citizen, I know we can do better. Sure the airport looks good with new fittings and nice overpriced shops, but it desperately needs the five new gates under construction. These have been unfinished for about five years while the government and contractor argue about who's going to pay for cost overruns. But if you're a tourist don't worry, when the lines for immigration reach back to the gate where you got off, they'll come take you to the front of the line so you don't get a bad first impression.
And it takes its toll. In Panama, PTY, which looks like nothing if not an elevated tugboat pier with thin poliester carpets and scattered plastic seats, and has one restuarant (airside) with $10 hamburgers, COPA is frantically opening new routes and can because there are 20+ gates there. If somebody new wanted to do that from San Jose, forget it. TACA is protected, so we pay $400 to go to El Salvador which is about the same distance as LA-San Francisco.
