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BiggerRussia remains focused on restoring direct flights with the Dominican Republic
The Russian Ministry of Transport and Rosaviatsiya are coordinating with the Civil Aviation Board ( JAC ) of the Dominican Republic to restore direct flights between the two countries, according to Alexei Seredin, the Russian ambassador to the Caribbean nation.
The initiative seeks to restore air connectivity suspended in 2022 and reactivate passenger flows that, before the restrictions, positioned the island as the main destination for Russian travelers in the Caribbean.
The lack of direct flights reduced visitor traffic from 178,955 in 2021 to just 21,278 last year. Compared to 2019, when 208,000 arrivals were recorded, this drop in operations represents a loss of almost 90% of the market. Currently, travel requires layovers in Istanbul , Madrid , or Panama City , with journeys averaging between 22 and 31 hours.
The establishment of nonstop operations would reduce flight time to between 12 and 14 hours, Seredin told RIA Novosti. Russia formally offered the immediate resumption of services to boost the bilateral economy, although the implementation of the schedule depends on the operational and safety guarantees to be defined by the aeronautical authorities of Moscow and Santo Domingo.
Current logistical costs are directly impacting the market. According to the Russian Association of Tour Operators, a tour package for two people in May, including accommodation in Punta Cana, costs 715,000 rubles (approximately USD 9,500), of which 84% is solely for airfare. Individual tickets from Moscow average 300,000 rubles, which is triple the price recorded at the beginning of 2022.
Despite the tariffs, hotel prices in destinations like Bávaro and Samaná remain competitive compared to markets like Mexico. The Dominican tourism sector expects the reopening of the direct air corridor to normalize demand, considering that in September 2021, the island received more Russian citizens in a single month than in all of 2025.
In January 2022, there were approximately 20 regular flights per week between Russia and the Dominican Republic. Ikar flew to Punta Cana from Ufa, Kazan, and Krasnoyarsk, and to Puerto Plata and Samaná from Moscow.
Norwind Airlines flew between Moscow and Samaná, and Aeroflot between Moscow and Punta Cana. Azur Air, on the other hand, flew to La Romana from Moscow-Vnukovo, Yekaterinburg, and St. Petersburg, and from Rostov to Punta Cana.
All of this represented an offer of more than 12,000 seats each week, according to Aviaciononline.
