The aircraft’s captain and the station manager at Puerto Jiménez help passengers to load their bags into the pannier boxes under the fuselage of this Cessna Caravan.

A fine air-to-air photograph of Nature Air’s DHC-6 Twin Otter, TI-BBQ, as it overflies some spectacular scenery. (Nature Air)

The airside entrance to the passenger terminal at Tobías Bolaños airport. The facility is very popular with passengers because it is just three miles (5km) from San José city centre.

Both of Nature Air’s Cessna Caravans are parked on the apron awaiting their next assignments.

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Costa Rica is one of the world’s most diverse countries – especially given its relatively small size – it offers visitors

active volcanoes, dense rainforest and beautiful beaches. Located in the Central American isthmus, with the Caribbean Sea to its east and the Pacific Ocean to the west, it borders Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the southeast. The nation is very much at the forefront of ecotourism and one of its leading airlines is the appropriately named, Nature Air. Founded 20 years ago, it has become Costa Rica’s leading domestic carrier, establishing a route network linking all the major cities and tourist destinations, as well as being one of the largest charter operators in Central America.

A Difficult StartNature Air would not be what it is

today without the guidance and support of one man; its founder and owner Alex Khajavi. He was bitten by the aviation bug in 2000 during a consultation project with local Costa Rican airline, Travelair. Operating a single Britten-Norman BN-2A Islander at the time, it provided domestic services across the country, but was struggling financially. Quickly realising the carrier’s potential and a growing demand for air services, especially from the capital to the major tourist destinations, he acted, devising a plan to re-launch the company and expand its horizons.

A group of investors came together to provide the finance to acquire Travelair. Sadly, the group failed to agree ownership terms and eventually the plan was abandoned, leaving the carrier facing an uncertain future. Still believing in the project, Alex teamed

Costa Rica’s Remarkable Little Airline

Sebastian Schmitz travels to Costa Rica to discover the ambitious plans of

local carrier Nature Air as it prepares to launch new

international services.

up with two new investors and acquired Travelair in early September 2001. However, the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US resulted in his partners backing out of the project. After looking at his options, he decided to sell some of his property in California and acquire Travelair by himself. He moved out to Costa Rica to take daily control of his airline; one of the first actions was to rebrand the company Nature Air.

Since its re-launch, it has grown rapidly and become one of the most successful companies in the region. Alex is still the owner and CEO of Nature Air, but has expanded his empire with the creation of a number of subsidiaries under the Nature Group umbrella. These include a travel firm, Nature Vacations; a flying

school, Aerotica; a consulting business Naturegate and Naturekids – a non-profit organisation providing affordable and high-quality education for children located in the more remote parts of Costa Rica. Alex was speaking to Airliner World from his latest investment; a hotel just outside of the capital city San José, which he says will soon become the latest addition to the Nature Group.

Domestic NetworkA casual glace at its Landings

in-flight magazine reveals a network of 13 domestic destinations and two international routes, the latter to the Nicaragua capital city Managua and Bocas del Toro just over the border in Panama. Nature Air operates all its

flights from its main base at Tobías Bolaños airport, the smaller of the two international facilities serving San José. On most of its services it carries a good mix of tourists and local people, the balance depending on the season. Outside the tourist season, frequencies are reduced or multi-stop flights are flown to ensure routes remain viable. Nature Air has also adopted a practice, favoured by carriers in Europe, of sharing

aircraft with other operators or leasing them out for longer periods.

It has entered into agreements with Grand Canyon Airlines and Scenic Airlines, both of Boulder City, Arizona as well as Las Vegas-based Twin Otter International allowing it to lease de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otters during the Costa Rican high season, when demand in the US is low; returning them when the additonal capacity isn't requried.

www.airlinerworld.com 3332 AIRLINER WORLD FEBRUARY 2013

This allows the carrier to increase its fleet to meet demand, without having to have aircraft standing around during quieter periods. Apart from Nature Air’s scheduled services, another important cash generator is its charter operations, including sight-seeing flights for tourists. The company also has long-standing relationships with numerous non-governmental organisations and science institutions, and regularly flies personnel and equipment across the country on their behalf. In 2011, Nature Air carried more than 110,000 passengers, a figure that is impressive given that its Twin Otters carry only 19 passengers, while its Cessna Caravans transport 12 at a time.

Nature Air and SustainabilitySustainability has become an often

over used term in recent years. To some it is little more than a marketing tool, however, for Nature Air it is a key component of how the company is run. Concerned about the greenhouse and CO! emissions caused by its operations, it decided in 2004 to offset 100% of all its emissions and has since become the first certified carbon neutral airline in the world. Unlike other carriers, Nature Air does not offer its passengers a voluntary scheme to offset their flight instead; the costs are included in the price of the ticket. Since its carbon offset programme started, nearly 1,000 acres (405ha) of land has been sponsored annually. The levy from the tickets is paid directly to land owners as a supplemental income and in return they pledge to maintain standing forests, while other land owners receive payments to plant more trees.

Meanwhile, Nature Air is also becoming more fuel efficient; reductions of around 7% have been achieved over the last three years, through both minimising aircraft weight where possible, and better flight planning. The acquisition of a new type, the fuel-efficient Caravan, has also helped to reduce fuel-burn as Alex explained: “We have a number of thinner routes and charters which are not always fully booked. Although we are generally happy with the performance of the Twin Otters in terms of fuel-burn, it doesn’t

NATURE AIR FLEET LIST (5C/NRR)Type Reg C/n Delivered

de Havilland Canada DHC 6-300

TI-AZC 433 Sept 2000TI-BBQ 537 Nov 2007TI-BDZ 267 Dec 2010

Cessna 208B Caravan TI-BBC 208B-1210 Nov 2011TI-BEI 208B-0900 Dec 2011

make much sense to fly with empty seats, either from a financial or an environmental point of view.”

He went on to explain that sustainability also plays an important role in the way the company treats its employees, and by offering them new opportunities it is able to retain its experienced staff. A number of its pilots, for example, started their careers as check-in staff or baggage handlers, and have since been given the opportunity to move up to more responsible positions. It was beneficial that the airline had its own flying school, Aerotica, also located at Tobías Bolaños airport, where candidates are offered the opportunity to undergo pilot training in parallel with their current jobs. The programme of offering employees opportunities to improve themselves has resulted in a highly motivated and loyal workforce.

Expansion on the HorizonHaving established itself as one of the

largest carriers in the region, Nature Air has ambitious plans for the future. Currently, its fleet consists of two types, the Twin Otter and the Caravan – all are painted in different and attractive liveries – which are mostly flown on a domestic network. Both types are well suited to its current operations, yet Alex sees plenty of opportunities for future growth: “We are looking at expanding into neighbouring countries that currently receive limited or inconveniently timed links from San José. The major carriers in the region, Copa Airlines and TACA Airlines, provide plenty of flights but timings are often

inconvenient unless you want to connect through their hubs. Point-to-point services in Central America are relatively undeveloped, if they exist at all, and are prohibitively expensive,” he explained.

Nature Air is currently exploring flights on the key business route to Managua which could see additional frequencies and shorter journey times. It is also looking to launch services to Panama City where it plans to operate into Albrook Airport, which is closer to the city centre than Tocumen International. The number of people wishing to fly in Costa Rica and its neighbouring countries is relatively small, with most still opting for long arduous bus journeys – but Alex is hopeful that will change. “If I want to travel from San José to Panama City by bus, it would take me around 15 hours and cost approximately $50 for a comfortable first class ticket. During the journey, I would probably buy food and drink, so add another $10-$20 – the total could now cost $70 one-way. Now if Nature Air offered a one-way flight for $90 or $100, people would have to pay a little extra, but would save 14 hours of travelling.” He believes Nature Air can lure a larger percentage of current bus travellers onto its flights. He adds: “We are not going to eat into TACA’s or Copa’s traffic, as they fly mostly connecting services, not the point-to-point that

Nature Air’s two Cessna 208 Caravans have been painted in these very attractive colour schemes. All the airline’s liveries have been created in-house.

Luggage is loaded into the rear baggage hold of this DHC-6 Twin Otter at Puerto Jiménez.

Acquiring the fuel-efficient Cessna Caravan for the carrier’s thinner routes and charters made perfect sense, both from a financial and an environmental point of view.

Nature Air Twin Otter, TI-BDZ has just completed another domestic rotation and is seen here taxiing to its parking spot.

Nature Air operates a fleet of three de

Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters, each aircraft

has been converted into a Vistaliner by Twin Otter International. The

extra large windows give excellent views of Costa

Rica’s stunning coastline. (Nature Air)

Climbing out of Tobías Bolaños airport – the smaller of two international facilities serving the Costa Rican capital, San José – from this seat you can’t fail to be reminded of who you are flying with.

A very tropical scene, one of the carrier’s Cessna Caravans is parked on the apron at Tobías Bolaños Airport - from this angle it looks to be completely surrounded by palm trees. (All images author unless stated)

34 AIRLINER WORLD FEBRUARY 2013

we are exploring. We are after the top 20% of bus passengers.”

The airline’s strategy behind the yet-to-be-launched international flights is quite simple: operate point-to-point services at convenient timings and high frequencies to untapped or underserved markets at lower fares than is being offered by the competition. Sounds like a winning formula, and only time will tell if this projected expansion is successful. Nature Air is currently in negotiations with overseas investors with a view to gaining additional finance for the expansion.

A different aircraft type has been identified, the Saab 340, and Alex explained that the comfortable turboprop is the right size to launch additional international services and is available in sufficient numbers at affordable leasing terms. “We were very interested in the Bombardier Dash 8-300, because of the opportunity to upgrade the larger -400 Series at a later date, however there are very few examples on the market at the moment and lease prices reflect this.”

No decision has been made regarding where its new services will operate from, either its current base at Tobías Bolaños, or from San José’s Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), where its only domestic competitor, SANSA, is based.

While many passengers like the proximity and convenience that Tobías Bolaños offers, there is a downside as there are no connecting flights here. However, the advantage for Nature Air of being based here means it can schedule services at times to suit passengers and they rarely face delays. If they move to SJO there is greater competition for slots (particularly at peak times), mainly from TACA

which has a big operation there. As Alex points out, Nature Air would probably move a large percentage of it flights to SJO if the conditions were right, but it will always maintain a presence at Tobías Bolaños.

Flying on Nature AirFlying with Nature Air is both a

pleasant and memorable experience. The three mile (5km) journey from San José city centre and Tobías Bolaños airport is relatively painless, while checking-in is very quick and efficient. A few minutes before boarding, travellers are taken into a separate room where they are shown a rather unusual flight safety video which is presented by children – some of those that the airline has supported through its Nature Kids programme. The Captain then personally guides passengers across the apron to the waiting aircraft.

Another lucrative venture are Nature Air’s scenic charters that take in this country’s spectacular scenery. But then most of the carrier’s scheduled flights also involve a fair amount of sightseeing, as its aircraft fly at low-level so that everyone – tourist or not – can enjoy the stunning vistas. The DHC-6 fleet has an added bonus, each aircraft has been converted into a Vistaliner by Twin Otter International, with the addition of extra large windows, which are cleaned before every departure to ensure passengers have the very best viewing and photography opportunities. For visitors who want to make the most of this experience, or just have a short time to see various places, Nature Air offers an ‘air pass’ giving unlimited flying for one or two weeks, with prices starting at a reasonable $282 during the low season.

Even though Nature Air has ambitious expansion firmly in mind, Alex Khajavi advocates what he calls “gentle walking” when planning for the future. He doesn’t want to force growth at any price, but is ready to take advantage of opportunities as and when they arise. It will be interesting to follow the developments of this remarkable Costa Rican airline in the years to come.

Examples of the colourful boarding passes passengers receive for flights on Nature Air.

Alex Khajavi has established a number of subsidiaries under the Nature Group umbrella including the flying school, Aerotica. Here one of its Piper PA-28 Cherokee aircraft taxies to the runway at the start of another training flight.

Operations at the more remote Costa Rican airfields are basic as is demonstrated here by the rough parking apron – passengers even load and unload their own baggage from the Twin Otter’s rear compartment.