JAC: Dominican Republic strengthens its air connectivity with strategic markets

The Civil Aviation Board (JAC) continues to expand the air connectivity of the Dominican Republic, starting next July 17, with new flights to the United States, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and France.

José Marte Piantini informed this at the beginning of the twelfth ordinary session of the organization’s plenary.

In this regard, the members of the plenary heard the request of the airline Arajet to operate 54 flights on the route Santo Domingo /Santiago/Medellin/Santiago/Santo Domingo, from July 17, 2023, to January 18, 2024, with a frequency of two flights a week, on Mondays and Thursdays in Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

Marte Piantini informed that the plenary heard Sky High Aviation’s request to perform 317 flights under the Special Permit modality from August 13, 2023, until February 13, 2024, on the routes: Santiago/Providence/Santiago; Santiago/Miami/Santiago; Santiago/Panama City/Santiago and Santo Domingo/Trinidad and Tobago/Santo Domingo.

He explained that travelers interested in these destinations would be able to fly with a frequency of one flight per week on Wednesdays on the Santiago/Providence route, one flight on Mondays and Fridays on the Santiago/Panama City route, and one flight on Thursdays and Sundays on the Santo Domingo/Trinidad and Tobago route.

He also reported that foreign airlines continue to show interest in the Dominican Republic as the leading destination in the Caribbean, so much so that the CAB was informed of the request for new permits from airlines to operate new flights to and from the Dominican Republic.

He informed that during the twelfth ordinary session, the plenary heard the requests of Turpial, Laser, and Air Caraibes, foreign airline operators, which requested Special Permits.

In this regard, the president of the JAC explained that they heard the request of Turpial Airlines to operate 51 flights on the Valencia, Venezuela/Punta Cana/Valencia, Venezuela route.

He said that the operations will be carried out in Boeing 737-400 aircraft, with a capacity for approximately 150 seats, from July 16, 2023, to January 7, 2024, with a frequency of one flight every Thursday and Sunday.

Likewise, he informed that the foreign operator Laser requested a Special Permit to operate 154 round trip flights on the Caracas, Venezuela/La Romana /Caracas, Venezuela route, from July 16, 2023, until September 30, 2023, with a frequency of two daily flights.

He indicated that the Valencia, Venezuela/Punta Cana, and Caracas/La Romana routes are not in any Operating Permit nor Certificate of Economic Authorization “the development of the country’s air connectivity is one of the pillars currently of the Civil Aviation Board”.

He added that “the members of the plenary continue to identify routes and airlines with potential characteristics with which connectivity can be expanded, and thus, offer more opportunities to travelers who choose the Dominican territory as a destination.”

The plenary also heard the request for a Special Permit from the airline Air Caraibes to operate eight flights on the route Paris, Orly/Port-au-Prince, Haiti/Punta Cana/Paris, Orly, from July 18, 2023, until September 5, 2023, with a weekly frequency on Tuesdays.

Special flights to and from the DR
At the end of the meeting, the president of the JAC said that commercial aviation in the country continues to experience extraordinary growth this year, “the special flights that have been approved from the Civil Aviation Board allow airlines to explore routes and show the levels of attraction of our country as a destination in the Caribbean”.

He added that “only during the year 2022 the flights under the Special Permit modality experienced an increase of 74% compared to the same period of the previous year” he said that in 2022 a total of 3,730 operations were carried out under this modality.