DR milestone: concrete open skies agreement with the U.S.

The Minister of Tourism, David Collado, and the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, José W. Fernández, closed the negotiations of the open skies treaty between the two countries and announced that the official signing will take place at an upcoming date in a protocol act headed by President Luis Abinader at the Dominican National Palace.

The closing ceremony took place at the Secretary of State’s Office in the U.S. capital and with this, the work begins for this agreement to become fully operational after more than 25 years of negotiations.

Minister Collado highlighted that this is an achievement for the country’s air connectivity that will allow national airlines to fly to any destination in the United States and vice versa, while increasing the country’s competitiveness, which should translate into cheaper flights between the two nations.
“Today we have closed this agreement thanks to the vision and commitment of President Luis Abinader and the entire tourism cabinet that we have worked for the country to be increasingly better connected by air, and I am proud to announce that it was achieved with the support of all the country’s airports,” Collado explained.

He added that “the Dominican Republic was one of the few countries that did not have an open skies agreement with the United States, and this signature will have an impact on Dominicans being able to come to their country at more competitive prices, as well as increasing the arrival of tourists from the United States to our country”.

For his part, Undersecretary Fernandez said that “this agreement strengthens our bilateral relations and will reinforce our strong economic ties” and praised the leadership of the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean and Central America. The U.S. official said that “this agreement goes beyond a relationship, this agreement is pro-growth, pro-competition and pro-consumer and will facilitate more trade, economic exchange between both nations, more tourists, exchange students, more opportunities for airlines, travel companies and customers”.

Collado thanked the support of Dominican airlines for making this possible, as well as Punta Cana Airport, Cibao Airport, Aerodom and important industry players such as Antonio Yapor and Mónika Infante, as well as the director of the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute (IDAC), Héctor Porcella.

In addition, the president of the Civil Aviation Board (JAC), José Marte Piantini and the director of the Airport Department, Víctor Pichardo. He also highlighted the work of the negotiating team integrated by the vice-minister Patricia Mejía, the lawyers Práxedes Joaquín Castillo and Leonel Melo and the legal consultant of Tourism, Natashú Domínguez.

The representatives of the United States government highlighted the work carried out by the current administration headed by President Abinader to achieve the closing of the agreement, since for the Americans it is a state policy to establish open skies with their commercial partners in order to guarantee greater competitiveness, better antitrust practices and greater opening of the skies for the airlines.

The open skies agreement will now go through a routine administrative phase, as all binational treaties do, which must also be ratified by the Dominican congress.

Source:Arecoa.com

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