Breeze Airways begins nonstop flights between Tampa International Airport and Juan Santamaría International Airport near San José, Costa Rica, on October 3, 2026, restoring a Tampa–Costa Rica link absent for more than 25 years, according to The Tico Times and Tampa International Airport.
The carrier will operate the route twice weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays with an Airbus A220 seating 137 passengers. The inaugural Saturday departure, flight MX2684, is scheduled to leave Tampa at 6:40 a.m. and arrive in Costa Rica at 7:55 a.m. local time. The return MX2685 is timed to depart San José at 8:55 a.m. and arrive Tampa at 2:05 p.m. Eastern.
Breeze is currently the only airline scheduled to fly nonstop between the two cities. For Costa Rican travelers, the link offers another direct option into Florida’s Gulf Coast without connecting over Miami or Fort Lauderdale. Tampa Airport said when the route was announced that San José had long been a network goal and that Costa Rica ranks among Florida’s larger trade partners, with thousands of Costa Rican–born residents in the Tampa Bay area.
“It’s an exciting day for Tampa International Airport as we celebrate not one, but two new international nonstop routes,” TPA CEO Michael Stephens said in the March airport release that also covered Punta Cana. “With new service to San Jose, Costa Rica — our first time offering this destination from TPA in more than 25 years — and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, we’re enhancing Tampa Bay’s access to two sought-after travel spots.”
Founder and CEO David Neeleman framed the Costa Rica start as part of a broader Tampa international push. “This announcement doubles the number of international destinations Breeze serves from Tampa, making it easy for our guests to visit great places across Central America and the Caribbean,” Neeleman said in the same TPA statement. By year-end the airline also planned Nassau, Cancún, Montego Bay and related leisure flying from the Florida hub.
The Tico Times noted that Costa Rica’s tourism board ICT had tied the route to an airline-attraction program with airport operator AERIS when sales opened earlier in 2026. Introductory fares had been promoted from about $129 one way; on the eve of launch The Tico Times saw the inaugural October 3 departure listed around $179 in Breeze’s lowest fare category, with prices varying by date.
Equipment is the Airbus A220-300 that underpins Breeze’s thin international strategy. The type’s range and seat count let the airline sustain twice-weekly leisure markets that larger carriers often skip. Passengers should treat Wednesdays and Saturdays as the published pattern and confirm schedules directly with Breeze, since winter leisure frequencies can shift with demand.
The October 3 launch marks Breeze’s formal entry into the Costa Rican market and adds another U.S. carrier at Juan Santamaría ahead of the northern winter travel season. Independent coverage from The Tico Times on October 2 and Tampa Airport’s earlier route announcement align on aircraft type, days of week and timetable; no airline denial has appeared.
For network watchers, Tampa–San José is classic Breeze: a city pair without competing nonstops, an A220, and a leisure corridor that reconnects Florida’s Gulf Coast to Central America after a quarter-century gap. It also sits beside the airline’s other Florida international experiments rather than overlapping the separate Vero Beach domestic package already covered on this desk.
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