Juan Santamaría International Airport is the primary airport serving San José, the capital of Costa Rica. The airport is located in Alajuela Province, 20 kilometres northwest of downtown San José. It is named after Costa Rica's national hero, Juan Santamaría, a drummer boy who died in 1856 defending his country against forces led by William Walker, an American filibuster. It is the biggest and busiest airport in Costa Rica and second in Central America with more than 5 million passengers per year before COVID.