Could Arajet Be Close To Launching Flights To The US?
- Arajet believes it is close to receiving authorization to launch flights to the US, aiming to service New York JFK, Miami, and San Juan (Puerto Rico), where there are large Dominican diasporas.
- Arajet currently offers flights to 20 destinations across the Americas, but their long-time ambition is to reach the highly profitable Dominican diaspora in the US.
- Arajet’s vision for services to the US involves two phases: serving major markets with tourism demand and the Dominican diaspora, and expanding to other cities in the US with the range of their Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet.
The Dominican ultra-low-fare carrier Arajet believes it is close to receiving authorization to launch flights to the United States. If approved, Arajet could begin servicing New York JFK, Miami, and San Juan (Puerto Rico) – three US cities with large Dominican diasporas.
How close are we?
As Arajet celebrates its first anniversary (it launched flights on September 15, 2022), the airline’s management indicated that the airline is ready to enter the American market. The United States has long held appeal for the airline, and approval would be the perfect birthday gift.
Currently, Arajet offers flights to 20 destinations in 15 countries across the Americas, reaching northern destinations such as Toronto and Montreal in Canada, and cities as far south as Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, and São Paulo. It employs a Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet anchored on its base in Santo Domingo’s Las Americas International Airport (SDQ).
But the long-time ambition of Arajet is to launch potentially profitable routes to reach the Dominican diaspora in the United States. Currently, US-based companies such as JetBlue serve most flights between the Dominican Republic and the United States.
In March 2023, Arajet requested the Department of Transportation authorization to “engage in scheduled foreign air transportation.” The airline proposed to commence scheduled service to the United States in 2023’s fall season, intending to employ its MAX 8 fleet configured with 185 seats.
Find the latest South American aviation news here.
On Tuesday, Victor Pacheco, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Arajet, said the company is ready to enter the American market and hopes the US government allows travel to the first three new routes that have been requested. He added,
“We believe we are very close to achieving the open skies treaty between the Dominican Republic and the United States.”
Arajet is supporting efforts in the Dominican Republic to negotiate an Open Skies agreement with the United States, allowing greater flexibility in service between the two countries.
The uneven market share
The data released by the Dominican Republic’s Civil Aviation Board (JAC) shows that US-based carriers dominate the market between the two countries. In fact, the top four airlines with the most traffic carried to and from the Caribbean country in July 2023 were US airlines.
JetBlue Airways carried 405,234 passengers in July, followed by American Airlines (189,361), United Airlines (125,762), and Delta Air Lines (118,237). Arajet, the only Dominican-based company in the top ten, is eighth with 45,537 passengers.
The Dominican Republic’s main destinations are New York JFK, Miami and Newark. These three cities concentrate 34% of the total passenger traffic in and out of the Caribbean nation. In their request to the DOT, Arajet said authorizing their service to the United States would “introduce a degree of balance to the market and provide the traveling public with additional attractive low-fare travel options.”
A two-step vision
Arajet’s vision for services to the United States is described in two phases. The first phase will be to serve the largest markets with tourism demand and the Dominican diaspora, including New York, Miami, and Puerto Rico.
The second phase will see new services to other cities that do not currently have direct services to the Dominican Republic. With the MAX 8’s range (3,500 nautical miles or 6,480 kilometers), Arajet can reach almost every destination in the United States (except for Alaska and Hawaii).
Would you like to see Arajet flying to the United States? Which other destinations would you like to see them cover? Let us know in the comments below.