The president of the Civil Aviation Board (JAC), José Marte Piantini, informed that the Dominican airline Arajet began the implementation in its reservation system to not charge Dominican passengers and legal residents for the Tourist Card.
This is in compliance with Resolution 217-2022 of the Civil Aviation Board (JAC), which orders national and foreign airlines transporting passengers to and from the Dominican Republic, to make the necessary adjustments in their computer systems to eliminate the US$10 Tourism Card fee from the invoicing of Dominican users for not being considered tourists.
“Arajet worked on its air reservation system, which uses the Sabre technological platform, which has 85,000 terminals, and is the first reservation system in the world, created by American Airlines in 1962. This, in order to comply with the deadlines established by the Dominican Government to eliminate the Tourist Card charge for Dominicans to enter the country,” explained the public servant.
The computerized reservation systems are data banks that can be accessed through their terminals by airlines and travel agencies. Likewise, air transport users can find out about existing flights at any time, their schedules, fares and seat availability.
Marte Piantini informed that, in coordination with the Civil Aviation Board, Arajet has become the first air operator to implement Resolution 217-2022, which exclusively benefits Dominican citizens and foreigners residing in the country.
The Tourist Card has a cost of US$10 and that amount has been included for years in the price of the air ticket charged indistinctly to Dominicans and foreigners for their entry to the national territory, but which in reality only nationals of other countries traveling to the Dominican Republic for tourist purposes must pay, without the need for a consular visa.
Marte reminded that the deadline for the implementation of Resolution 217-2022 is until March 1, 2023, or else the airlines could be fined. “We urge air operators to make the necessary adjustments, remembering that they have the support of the Civil Aviation Board in this process,” he said.
The president of the JAC offered these details after a meeting with the Minister of Tourism and coordinator of the Tourism Cabinet, David Collado, and the executive director of Arajet, Victor Pacheco.
The ordinary session of the plenary
The Civil Aviation Board heard the request for new passenger and cargo air operations to and from Dominican territory. This was informed by José Marte Piantini at the conclusion of the ordinary session this Wednesday, where the members of the plenary approved the request for the issuance of an Operating Permit (OP) of the foreign air operator WORLD 2 FLY PORTUGAL.
This airline requested to the CAB the issuance of an Operating Permit to exploit air transport services on a regular basis for passengers and cargo on the Lisbon/Punta Cana route and plans to start operations as of March 2023, using Airbus A330-300 aircraft with a capacity of 388 passengers, offering the market 40,352 seats in the first year of operation.
Between January 2021 and November 2022, the Lisbon/Punta Cana route recorded 128,455 passengers transported in 476 inbound and outbound air operations.
The aerocommercial relations between the governments of the Dominican Republic and Portugal are covered by the Air Transport Agreement signed on May 20, 2019.
The JAC plenary also heard the request for additional flights on the Madrid/ Punta Cana route, for the 2023 winter season, from the foreign air operator AIR EUROPA, which is currently authorized to offer scheduled air transport services for passengers and cargo from Spain to all airport terminals in the Dominican Republic. The operations on the referred route are projected to be carried out from February 20 to March 21, 2023, with a frequency of one flight every Monday.
AIR EUROPA moved 496,184 passengers in 1,842 inbound and outbound operations during the period January 2021-December 2022.
The Civil Aviation Board recently approved through Resolution 27-2023 AIR EUROPA to operate under Special Permit 188 flights on the Madrid/Santo Domingo/New York and Madrid/New York/Santo Domingo routes, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, from June 20, 2023 to October 29, 2023.
Source: Presidencia.gob.do
