SANTO DOMINGO.- The Director General of the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation (IDAC), Héctor Porcella, stated that the open skies agreement with the United States will not only promote better air connectivity between the country and its main commercial and tourism partner, but will also attract new investments with an impact on exports and the generation of quality jobs.
After noting that the country maintains open skies agreements with 60 other countries, Porcella stated that this agreement will allow Dominican airlines to fly directly to any destination in the United States with more economical fares for domestic and foreign travelers.
“As President Luis Abinader has pointed out, the agreement will allow us to expand flight options for Dominican airlines and include more direct routes between both countries, especially in US cities with a significant Dominican population, who currently have to fly with layovers in New York or Miami,” noted the director of the IDAC.
He emphasized that the Dominican Republic has several airlines capable of operating to various destinations in the United States, with fares more economical than those currently in effect.
In fact, Porcella pointed out, “US airlines have always had the ease of using Dominican airspace for tourism and commercial purposes, but the same cannot be said for the national flag carriers, creating an unequal relationship that will be overcome with the proposed agreement.”
It meant that the open skies policy is promoted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), with the interest of fostering connectivity between its territories, which impacts the growth of its economies, the creation of direct and indirect jobs, foreign capital investment, increased foreign exchange earnings, consumption of domestic products and other contributions derived from this activity.
“We recently accompanied Tourism Minister David Collado during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Peter Buttigieg and at the signing of the open skies agreement consultation memorandum with Under Secretary of State José Fernández in Washington, D.C., initiating the work to implement this agreement,” said the head of the IDAC.
Highlighting the importance of the agreement, Porcella noted that the United States is the main source of tourists to the Dominican Republic, accounting for approximately half of the total number of visitors the country receives annually, in addition to the hundreds of thousands of Dominicans who travel or reside in different North American cities.
