Dominican Republic’s Private Airport Leaders Address Future of Industry

They will work on a strategy to regain the confidence of passengers

“We are committed to working together to get back to normal,” Rainieri said.

The Punta Cana leaders, Cibao and La Romana airports, met with the president of the Civil Aviation Board ( JAC ), José Marte Piantini, who raised the need to design a comprehensive strategy for all sectors to alleviate the crisis left by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The president of the JAC, called on the unity of all the sectors involved, to design a global strategy that manages to restore confidence in passengers and stimulate even more visits to the country and the rebound in tourism, according to a statement from the entity.

The leaders of the sector detailed the country’s airports’ current situation and the need for a strategic alliance of the public and private sectors to channel departures in the short, medium and long term that lead to the adaptation of the “covidianity” of these sectors.

“We will solve this if we join forces. We must support ourselves with the search for feasible solutions so that the Dominican commercial aviation sector can continue to operate, guaranteeing the necessary conditions so that air transport users can travel safely and reliably,” said Marte Piantini.

It is the first time that the Civil Aviation Board receives  Frank Rainieri , president and CEO of the Punta Cana Group, Frank Elías Rainieri , general director of the Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ); Teófilo Gómez,

general administrator of the Cibao airport, Luis Emilio Rodríguez , director of La Romana Airport, and Nasim Antonio Yapor , representative of the Private Sector and member of the JAC Plenary.

On his side, on behalf of the businessmen, the president of the Puntacana Group, Frank Rainieri, said: “We are committed to working together to return to normality because we have a great commitment to the country, we are sure that working together we can achieve.”

During the meeting, held in the Norge Botello room at the JAC headquarters, they agreed to develop a work strategy. And in that sense, Frank Rainieri proposed an upcoming gathering with other sectors next Tuesday at the Punta Cana Group headquarters.

Meeting at the IDAC

The general director of the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation ( IDAC ), Román Ernesto Caamaño Vélez , met with the directors of the Association of Private Airports, with whom he discussed matters related to the immediate future of civil aviation and the protocols to follow to avoid the spread of COVID-19 in air terminals.

The Association of Private Airports comprises representatives from the international airports of Punta Cana, Cibao, and La Romana. The meeting also aimed to encourage the flow of passengers from other destinations.

Caamaño Vélez was receptive to the participants’ proposals in the meeting, to whom he promised collaboration and commitment from his management at the head of the entity.

The meeting was held at the headquarters of the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation IDAC.

The executives also met with the executive director of the Airport Department, Víctor Pichardo, with whom they spoke about issues related to the sector.

The meeting was held at the institution’s facilities, where Pichardo expressed the honor of receiving, a few days after being appointed to office, the businessman’s visit while highlighting the Government’s objective of maintaining openness and transparency of public institutions for the benefit of the Dominican people.

Meanwhile, Rainieri said that the visit is to give him a boost and work together on the recovery plan for the country’s airport sector. Also, to address the different challenges that the sector experiences in this health crisis.