Live flights at Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)

SJO MROC  San José (Alajuela), CR

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SJO at a glance

  • What it is: Juan Santamaría International Airport is a regional airport serving San José (Alajuela), CR.
  • Codes: SJO on your ticket, MROC on the radar.
  • Size: 1 runway at 3,021 ft above sea level.
  • Right now: 1 aircraft are within 55 km, shown live on the map above.
  • Local time zone: America/Costa_Rica (UTC-6), so every time shown for SJO is local rather than UTC.

Aircraft observed near SJO

1 aircraft are within 55 km of SJO right now. This is live ADS-B traffic, not a published timetable: aircraft are classified by what they are physically doing - Climbing out, on approach, or holding at cruise overhead. For gate numbers and scheduled times, check with SJO directly or your airline.

Departing now

FlightOperatorRouteStatusAltitudeSpeed
No departures being tracked at this moment. Traffic varies by time of day and receiver coverage.

Arriving now

FlightOperatorRouteStatusAltitudeSpeed
SWA501 Southwest Airlines route not published on approach 7,725 ft 266 kts
1
Runways
3021 ft
Field elevation

About Juan Santamaría International Airport

Juan Santamaría International Airport lies in the tropics at 9.99° N, 84.21° W, on America/Costa_Rica time (UTC-6). Tropical airports contend with heat and humidity, both of which thin the air and lengthen takeoff runs, and with convective storms that build fast in the afternoon.

Juan Santamaría International Airport has 1 runway. The longest, 07/25, measures 9,882 ft by 151 ft, which puts the field in the widebody capable category: twin-aisle aircraft can use it, and narrowbodies have length to spare. The surface is asphalt. It is lit for night operations.

Runway 07/25 is aligned roughly east/west, which is the clearest hint you get about the prevailing wind here: runways are built to face the wind that blows most often, because aircraft take off and land into it. Every runway here shares that east/west alignment, so a strong crosswind means a crosswind landing rather than a switch to another strip.

Runways at SJO

RunwayLengthWidthSurfaceLighting
07/25 9,882 ft (3,012 m) 151 ft Asphalt Lit

Runway numbers are the magnetic heading rounded to ten degrees, which is why they change when the magnetic field drifts - runway numbers explained.

Airports near SJO

Great-circle distance from Juan Santamaría International Airport, closest first.

AirportCodeDistanceDirectionCity
Tocumen PTY 539 km east Panama City

Unusual aircraft we have tracked at SJO

Ranked by how rarely we identify the type anywhere, so the widebodies rise above the daily narrowbodies. Registrations are the individual airframes we logged, not a schedule.

AircraftTypeRegistrationOperator
Boeing 737 MAX 8 B38M N27252 United Airlines
Airbus A320 A320 N920AV Avianca
IATA / ICAO
SJO / MROC
Location
San José (Alajuela), CR 9.994, -84.209
Time zone
America/Costa_Rica
Opened

Nearby and related airports

Geographically close airports and useful alternatives in CR.

PTY Tocumen International Airport Panama City, Panama
SAL El Salvador International Airport San Salvador, El Salvador

More airports and guides connected to SJO

How a field like this runs day to day is covered in how airports work. The codes SJO and MROC are explained in airport codes decoded.

Data sources and review

Reviewed 2026-07-29 by Flight-Tracker.net Editorial Team

This profile is generated from the airport's published coordinates, elevation and runway records. It does not claim live terminal or passenger totals.

Read our airport data sourcing and review process, or inspect the machine-readable reference dataset.

Frequently asked questions about SJO

What is the airport code for Juan Santamaría International Airport?

Juan Santamaría International Airport uses the IATA code SJO on tickets and baggage tags, and the ICAO code MROC in flight plans and on radar. The leading “M” in MROC is the region marker: ICAO codes are grouped geographically, which is why airports near each other usually share their first letter or two while their IATA codes look unrelated.

How many runways does SJO have?

Juan Santamaría International Airport operates 1 runway. The field sits at 3,021 ft above sea level.

What time zone is SJO in?

Juan Santamaría International Airport operates on America/Costa_Rica local time. Scheduled departure and arrival times for this airport are always published in local time, not UTC.

Can I track flights at SJO live?

Yes. The map on this page shows every aircraft broadcasting its position within about 55 km of Juan Santamaría International Airport, and there is 1 in range as this page loaded. The boards split them into departures, arrivals and traffic passing overhead, all timed in America/Costa_Rica.