The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, met with the President of Arajet, Victor Pacheco, and the main aeronautical authorities of the Dominican Republic, in order to establish an agreement that will allow Santo Domingo to be connected with San Salvador quickly, efficiently and economically through the Las Américas International Airport (AILA), allowing greater opportunities for economic and tourism development between both countries.
A press release stated that the Central American leader received the delegation at the presidential palace for more than an hour, where they agreed to begin work so that Arajet, the Dominican ultra-low-cost airline, can start direct operations to San Salvador at the end of July.
“One of Arajet’s main objectives is to unite and offer value to sister nations, such as the Dominican Republic and El Salvador, where there is great potential for growth,” said Pacheco during the meeting. “We thank the government of El Salvador for its willingness to facilitate and promote this route, which will undoubtedly have a major impact on economic and tourism development between our two countries.”.
For his part, Christian Flores, commissioner of the presidency of El Salvador, indicated that the Government “is making available all the technological capacity, security and first-class infrastructure of the International Airport for the entry of new airlines and that Arajet can count on said support.”.
According to Pacheco, the connection between San Salvador and Santo Domingo currently takes an average of 10 to 14 hours with layovers in various cities in the region, and costs approximately $1,000. Arajet's direct flights will reduce that time to just three hours, with prices 30% to 60% lower than the market average.
Arajet will operate an exclusive fleet of Boeing 737 MAX-8 aircraft, which, according to the company, will allow a 14% reduction in fuel consumption over most of the current most efficient single-aisle aircraft, thanks to the MAX's CFM International LEAP-1B engines and advanced technology winglets
The Dominican delegation included José Marte Piantini, president of the Civil Aviation Board; Héctor Porcella, director of the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation; Victor Pichardo, airport director; and Hostos Rizik, director of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration in the Dominican Republic.
The delegation arrived at San Salvador International Airport aboard Arajet's second Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, named Valle Nuevo, a model of which it expects to receive 40 planes in the next five years.
Source: Diario Libre
