Nature Air

Nature Air
IATA ICAO Call sign
5C NRR NATUREAIR
Founded1989
Commenced operations1989
Ceased operationsMay 2, 2018
HubsJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)
Fleet size2
Destinations15
HeadquartersSan José, Costa Rica
Key peopleAlex Khajavi (CEO & Founder)
Employees100
Websitewww.natureair.com

Nature Air was a regional airline headquartered in San José, Costa Rica that offered a scheduled service to a range of tourist destinations in Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua. It operated scheduled domestic and international services, as well as charter services with turboprop aircraft. Its hub, operations and maintenance base was Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) having moved in 2013 from its original location at Aeropuerto Internacional Tobías Bolaños (SYQ).[1][2] Claiming to be the world's first carbon neutral airline, it was one of the first airlines to publicize its sustainability credentials during a period of rapidly-expanding interest in eco-tourism.[3] Nature Air received a number of awards, including a Global Vision Award for Sustainability from Travel + Leisure magazine in 2011.[4] Its fleet consisted primarily of DHC-6 Twin Otter and Cessna 208 Grand Caravan turboprop aircraft that were ideally suited to short takeoff and landing characteristics of its destinations which often featured gravel or limited-paved landing strips. In 2010, Nature Air advertised 74 daily flights to 15 destinations in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama.[5] On 31 December 2017, all 10 passengers and two pilots aboard [[Nature Air Flight 144 were killed in an aerodynamic stall shortly after takeoff from Punta Islita airstrip. Although the accident was ultimately determined by the NTSB to have been caused by pilot error, Nature Air stopped flying in January 2018 and its operating license was indefinitely suspended by the civil aviation authority of Costa Rica on May 2, 2018 leading to the closure of the airline.[6]

  1. ^ "Costa Rica Domestic Flight Destinations - Nature Air". Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  2. ^ "Nature Air traslada su operación del Tobías Bolaños al Juan Santamaría | Crhoy.com". CRHoy.com | Periodico Digital | Costa Rica Noticias 24/7 (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  3. ^ "Carbon Neutral Costa Rica Airline". Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Global Vision Awards 2011". Travel + Leisure. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  5. ^ "Nature Air - Conde Nast Traveler". Nature Air. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  6. ^ "Nature Air no levanta vuelo: Aviación Civil le suspende operaciones por tiempo indefinido". La Nación, Grupo Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-02-22.