Puntarenas, CR 🇨🇷 Closed Airport
ICAO
CR-0007
IATA
-
Elevation
6 ft
Region
CR-P
Local Time
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 8.64999° N, -83.432999° E
Continent: North America
Type: Closed Airport
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The exact closure date is not officially documented. However, analysis of historical satellite imagery indicates the airport was still maintained and appeared operational as late as 2005-2007. By 2012, the runway shows significant overgrowth, suggesting it fell into disuse and was effectively closed sometime between 2008 and 2012.
The airport was a private airstrip. Its closure was not due to a specific incident, accident, or government mandate. The most probable reason is abandonment by the property owner. This is common for private airstrips when the property changes hands, the owner no longer requires air access, or the high costs of maintenance and certification are no longer justified for private use.
The site is currently a non-functional, abandoned airstrip. Satellite imagery clearly shows the outline of the former dirt/grass runway located parallel to the coast of the Golfo Dulce. However, it is heavily overgrown with vegetation and is completely unusable for any aviation purposes. The land is part of a private coastal property and the former runway is slowly being reclaimed by the surrounding tropical forest.
Playa Blanca (J. W. Berteus) Airport was a private general aviation airstrip. Its namesake, John W. Berteus, was reportedly an American landowner in the area. The airport's primary purpose was to provide direct air access to this remote private coastal estate on the Osa Peninsula, a region historically characterized by difficult land access. It served the needs of the owner, their family, and guests, playing a small role in the private development and accessibility of this ecologically rich but isolated part of Costa Rica. It handled small, single-engine aircraft typical of general aviation.
There are no known public plans or official prospects for reopening the Playa Blanca airport. As a privately owned airstrip, any initiative to restore it would have to come from the current landowner. This would require a substantial investment to clear the runway, restore the surface, and meet the safety and certification standards of Costa Rica's Dirección General de Aviación Civil (DGAC). Given the proximity of other operational airports that serve the region's tourism, such as Drake Bay Airport (MRDK) and Puerto Jiménez Airport (MRPJ), there is little to no economic or logistical incentive for its reopening.