Santo Domingo.- Passengers aboard a World 2 Fly flight from Madrid faced a tense situation on Sunday night at Las Américas International Airport (AILA) when they were evacuated through the rear door of the L3 landing bridge. The issue arose after the bridge’s shutter door malfunctioned, preventing standard disembarkation. Efforts by the Operations Department of Dominican Airports XXI (Aerodom) to resolve the issue proved unsuccessful at the time.
Aerodom spokesman Luis López described the incident as a “fortuitous” failure, emphasizing that such technical issues can occur in any airport infrastructure. Passengers were eventually evacuated through the bridge’s rear left door and transported by bus to immigration and customs. However, journalist Gustavo Olivo criticized the incident on social media, calling it a “shame for the country” and highlighting the hour-long delay, which he believes harms the perception of the Dominican Republic’s airport operations and tourism image.
Despite this setback, AILA has maintained a high passenger flow, with a 98% occupancy rate on flights driven by the post-holiday travel surge. Aerodom has announced that gate L3 has been temporarily taken out of service for repairs to prevent similar incidents. Meanwhile, airlines have added extra flights to meet the growing seasonal demand.