Arajet, the new Dominican airline, began selling tickets with prices from $55 one way and $149 roundtripwith taxes included, for different destinations in North, Central, South America and the Caribbean, which will connect Santo Domingo with new tourist and commercial experiences, turning the country into a hub for the Americas.
Víctor Pacheco, president of Arajet, affirmed, with the presence of the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, that the airline will mark the rebirth of Dominican aviation and that they will project in a period of approximately 5 years to be moving 7 million passengers per year.
“We promised low prices, and we are going to have rates never seen before in our country, and starting in September we will begin the journey to convert Las Américas International Airport into the new Caribbean Air Hub, which will allow connecting the continent at the lowest cost, world-class services and with new and more efficient aircraft on the market”, Pacheco said during the launch at a hotel in Santo Domingo.
It was reported that the first flight will be on September 15 to Mexico City and Monterrey and Cancun will also join that destination. In addition, from that date it will also be flown to Barranquilla, Cali and Cartagena, in Colombia; Quito and Guayaquil, in Ecuador; Lima, in Peru; Guatemala City, in Guatemala; San Salvador, in El Salvador; Saint Martin, Aruba and Curaçao, in the Caribbean.
“From the Ministry of Tourism we are committed to the diversification of tourism and the expansion of airspace at fair rates. Thanks to this we have achieved records despite the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war. Seeing this map of a Dominican airline, which connects Santo Domingo with so many destinations on the continent, shows confidence in the future, and is in line with the vision that we expressed when assuming the presidency of the Central American Tourism Integration Secretariat, SITCA. Our efforts in marketing and market development will continue to push these bets in parallel,” said Minister Collado.
“We will start with more than 5,500 thousand seats with prices ranging from 55 dollars to 100 dollars one way; and at 149 dollars round trip with taxes included, through our website www.arajet.com; then we will have temporary promotions and then regular prices; and in all cases we will make sure that it is the lowest rate in the market”, explained Álvaro de Óleo, Vice President of Marketing at Arajet, who explained that there will be three levels of rates.
Arajet also announced that from October they will increase their routes, adding flights to Toronto and Montreal, in Canada; Medellin and Bogota, in Colombia; San Jose, in Costa Rica; and Kingston, Jamaica; with which it will establish a wide route network of 20 destinations in 12 countries in its first 3 months of operations.
Regarding flights to the United States, the president of Arajet reported that “we are actively working with the Dominican government to obtain the corresponding permits and start services to that country as soon as possible. Thus, to be able to offer low rates to the Dominican diaspora who, today, must pay high prices and who cry out for a warm and humane service”.
Arajet will start operations with five new aircraft, Boeing 737 Max-800. They explained that they are state-of-the-art aircraft and designed to be environmentally friendly, with 14% less fuel consumption, compared to most single-aisle aircraft, which will allow the airline to save on fuel costs, maintenance and operations and, in turn, pass those savings on to customers.