The open skies policy implemented by the Dominican Republic through the Civil Aviation Board (JAC) has generated a more competitive market for users of air services in the country, so that the flow of passengers mobilized in May by airports exceeded 1.2 million. This was announced by the president of the agency, José Ernesto Marte Piantini, at the conclusion of Friday’s ordinary session of the members of the plenary, who heard the request to approve new air operations under the code-sharing regime.
Marte Piantini stated during this year’s tenth session that the approval of code-share agreements has allowed for an increase in the country’s air connectivity.
In this regard, the members of the plenary approved operations under this modality between foreign air operators Iberia, Líneas Aéreas de España and BRITISH AIRWAYS on the London/Punta Cana/London and Madrid/Santo Domingo/Madrid routes for the 2022 summer season.
Likewise, the CAB plenary heard the request for a Special Permit in favor of the foreign air operator AIR ANTILLES EXPRESS to operate the routes Fort de France/Punta Cana /Pointe a Pitre and Pointe a Pitre/Punta Cana /Fort de France.
AIR ANTILLES EXPRESS is a French airline based in Guadeloupe, authorized to conduct scheduled passenger, cargo and mail operations.
This operator will operate ten roundtrip flights on the Fort de France/Pointe a Pitre/Santo Domingo/Pointe a Pitre/Fort de France and Pointe a Pitre/Punta Cana/Pointe a Pitre routes, five on each route, from July 24 to August 21, 2022, with a frequency of one flight per week on each route, on Sundays.
JAC points out that the routes Fort de France/Punta Cana/Pointe a Pitre and Pointe a Pitre/Punta Cana/Fort de France are not included as such in any Operating Permit, nor in any Economic Authorization Certificate; however, the air operator Air Caraibes has in its Operating Permit the routes Pointe a Pitre/Punta Cana/Pointe a Pitre and Fort de France/Punta Cana/Fort de France.
Special permits are granted to established airlines to operate routes not included in their operating permits, with the objective of exploring their commercial viability in order to regularize them in the future.
Uninterrupted growth
The country’s commercial aviation regulatory body reported that the Dominican Republic continues to exceed expectations and break passenger traffic records in most months. Marte Piantini detailed that from May 1 to May 31 of this year, 1,226,056 passengers were transported by air on international flights through Dominican terminals, in 9,170 air operations.
He assured that this amount of passengers mobilized by the different airports represents a record figure for the month of May. “Before May 2022, the Dominican Republic had never reached the threshold of 1.2 million passengers in this month,” said the president of the JAC.
He detailed that of the 1,226,056 passengers transported on international flights to and from the country, 602,726 passengers entered Dominican territory while 684,285 departed.
Marte Piantini indicated that due to the significant growth of air operations in the country and as a result of the dynamic relationship with other countries, hundreds of thousands of cargo are moved through Dominican airports. “Dominican international terminals mobilized 31,720,604 kilograms in exports, representing the capture of US$1,154,153,286 million in direct and indirect income, and 12,308,955 kilograms in imports from January 1 to April 30,” said the president of the JAC.
