All Dominican Republic airlines will be able to fly to Cuba
HAVANA, July 1st. The civil aviation authorities of the Dominican Republic and Cuba announced that the number of flights between the two neighboring countries will soon increase after the current regulations for airlines were modified.According to the report by Diario Libre, the president of the Dominican Civil Aviation Board, José Ernesto Marte Piantini, and the president of the Cuban Institute of Civil Aeronautics, Armando Luis Daniel López, signed an agreement on Thursday that will allow a greater flow of inter-island flights.
Marte Piantini highlighted that the document updates air trade relations between Cuba and the Dominican Republic, allowing “all national airlines to operate passenger, baggage and cargo air transport services from the national territory to Cuba and vice versa,” he announced.
The agreement until now in force between the two countries only allowed the designation of two airlines to each country to operate flights.
At the beginning of the signing of the protocol, Marte Piantini indicated that the objective of updating the document that had been in force for 18 years is to increase the flow of passengers, trade, connectivity and, consequently, air transport between the territories.
He added that “benefits are generated from the signing for air operators who fly between Cuba and the Dominican Republic, two of the most important economies in the Caribbean, which from now on are closer to their relationship in terms of commercial aviation.”
In reference to the frequencies, the agreement specifies that unlimited frequencies can be established, so that the Dominican airlines will be able to increase their frequencies to the José Martí International Airport, in Havana.
Also present at the signing of the agreement were Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, Cuban Minister of Transportation, and Juan Carlos Salazar, Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
According to the information provided by the Statistics Division of the Department of Air Transport of the Dominican JAC, after the agreement, it is expected that by the end of 2023, 36,000 passengers will be transported between Cuba and the Dominican Republic, an increase of 32% compared to 2022. .
According to officials, in the first five months of 2023, 11,000 passengers have been transported on commercial flights to and from Cuba.
From the Dominican Republic, Air Century, Sky High Aviation Services, Aerolíneas Argentinas and Fly All Ways fly to Cuba.
Cuba is experiencing the largest exodus in its history. Numerous migrants from the island have used the Dominican Republic in the past two years as a bridge to try to reach Central America, while another number do shopping tourism in that country.
