The organization expects that 2023 will close with a record 17.46 million passengers transported by air.
SANTO DOMINGO.– José Ernesto Marte Piantini, president of the Civil Aviation Board (JAC), described 2023 as an excellent year for air transport in the country, after learning in the last ordinary session of this year that by the end of this month, 1.64 million passengers would travel on international flights in arrivals and departures, according to the projection of the Statistics Section of the Air Transport Department of the organization.
Marte Piantini told the plenary members that, compared to air traffic in December of last year, the number of passengers on international flights could increase by 13% by the end of December of this year, according to projections, and that the expectation is that 2023 will close with a record 17.46 million passengers transported by air. He noted that this figure would represent an increase of approximately 2 million additional passengers handled by the country's international terminals compared to 2022.
For 32 consecutive months (from April 2021 to November 2023), passenger traffic by air to/from the Dominican Republic has increased, becoming the longest period of growth in the last 20 years.
He added that in the first 11 months of 2023, an average of 1.44 million passengers traveled each month. The head of the agency highlighted that this average surpasses the busiest month of 2019 (January), in which 1.42 million passengers traveled.
He also asserted that air transport is a tool for competitiveness that strengthens trade and generates jobs and foreign exchange for the Dominican Republic. "The confidence that air transport maintains in the country in international markets is manifested through the great dynamism in international passenger and cargo flights through airport terminals," he said.
He indicated that, since the beginning of the current government, the Civil Aviation Board has shown the interest that air operators have in the sector, as an example he announced the new application from AIR CANADA, to operate under Special Permit the Ottawa/Punta Cana/Ottawa route, and the application to renew the Operating Permit of SUNWING AIRLINES, both Canadian operators, "these applications will increase connectivity options and impact the number of arriving travelers," he said.
Similarly, the members of the plenary also learned of the request for a Special Permit from the foreign air operator Rutaca to operate the Maturín, Venezuela/Santo Domingo/Maturín, Venezuela route; a route that will be operated with a frequency of one flight, on Wednesdays, in A737-300 model aircraft.
During the review of Rutaca's Special Permit application, the head of the agency highlighted that this operator transported 28,842 passengers in 1,140 air operations from January 2022 to November 2023.
