Miguel Valerio affirms that justice has put an end to the Bávaro international airport with seven sentences against its construction

Punta Cana.- Miguel Valerio, the lawyer for the Eastern Airport Corporation, which owns the Punta Cana International Airport and the Punta Cana Group, has stated that the Dominican justice system has put an end to the construction of the Bávaro International Airport through the dismissal of seven judgments against it. He argues that the airport is a “meaningless and unnecessary” project.

Valerio explained that in addition to the seven court decisions, there was also a resolution from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources on September 12, 2022, which invalidated the environmental license for the project. This decision corrected the irregularities that occurred during the previous government, thereby strengthening institutions and legal security in the Dominican Republic.

He further clarified that the approval of the Bávaro airport, located just two minutes away by flight from the Punta Cana International Airport, revealed that the entire construction permitting process was flawed from the beginning, as it violated the principles, norms, and procedures established in Dominican law.

Valerio stated that the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation (IDAC) declared the project detrimental to national interests on December 22, 2020. This determination was upheld by the Second Chamber of the Administrative Superior Tribunal (TSA) on September 23, 2021, which also found that the project did not meet the requirements established for such a venture.

According to Valerio, the TSA has reaffirmed its position through seven judgments. One of these, numbered 0030-03-2021-SSEN-00435 and issued on September 23, 2020, declared inadmissible a contentious appeal filed by Grupo Abrisa and the commercial company Aeropuerto Internacional de Bávaro against the IDAC’s resolution that initiated the process to declare the project detrimental.

He explained that the fourth judgment, numbered 0030-1462-2022-SSEN-00085 and issued on February 25, 2022, rejected a third-party claim filed by Grupo Abrisa and the commercial company Aeropuerto Internacional de Bávaro AIB, seeking to revoke the aforementioned judgment 0030-1462-2021-SSEN-00535, as the reasons adopted by that chamber for accepting the original contentious appeal remained valid.

Valerio emphasized that in a fifth judgment dated December 16, 2022, numbered 0030-03-2022-SSEN-00547, the Second Chamber of the TSA rejected the administrative contentious appeal filed by AIB, confirming in its entirety Resolution 005/2022 issued by the IDAC on March 2, 2022, which denied the request for operational permission and aeronautical no-objection to AIB on the grounds that it constituted a valid and legal administrative act.

Furthermore, on January 16, 2023, the Fifth Chamber of the TSA, through judgment 030-1643-2023-SSEN-00015, rejected the administrative contentious appeal filed by Grupo Abrisa against Resolution 005/2022 issued by the IDAC on March 2, 2022, which denied the request for operational permission and aeronautical no-objection to AIB, considering it a valid and legal administrative act.