TICOS - Líneas Aéreas de Costa Rica (San José Juan Santamaría) has shelved its plans to secure an Air Operators Certificate (AOC) citing funding problems. In an interview with the Republica newswire, Álvaro Vargas, the director general of the Costa Rican civil aviation authority (Dirección General de Aviación Civil - DGAC) said the airline had not been able to secure the capital needed to lease the five A319-100s it had planned to launch with.
"While we are hopeful that the company completes its certification, it will have to start the process all over again," Vargas said.
The start-up's failure to furnish the DGAC with additional documentation since December last year had resulted in the AOC certification process being suspended. However, since the delay had lasted more than 9 months, Vargas added, so the start-up would have to reapply from scratch.
Owned by Gino Renzi, TICOS - Líneas Aéreas de Costa Rica had hoped to take over LACSA Costa Rica (San José Juan Santamaría) routes abandoned following the merger of its parent TACA International Airlines (San Salvador International) with Avianca (Bogotá) last year. It had hoped to serve Los Angeles International, New York Newark, Miami International, Caracas Simón Bolivar, and México City International.
