El Catey Official Opening / Cargo

I'd also be curious as to if any of the services have opened yet. i.e. Duty Free or even someplace selling beverages as you exit or enter the airport. Going to be landing there on the 13th and would like to pick up a drink if possible for the bus ride to the resort.

Fernandez inaugurates Catey Airport in Dominican north coast tomorrow

Santo Domingo.- President Leonel Fernandez will travel tomorrow, Wednesday, to Samana province, where he will head the inaugural ceremony of the International Airport of El Catey.

The ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.

Fernandez will travel to Samana in the company of other government officials.

El Catey was built by the firm Dominican Airports (Aerodom), under a concession agreement..

The President?s Press Office confirmed the Head of State?s attendance to the inauguration of the airport terminal.

Later

No refreshments or food inbound. Very limited for the time being, outbound.
No Duty Free yet, space is being built out though. One VIP lounge outbound, to be two in the future (one smoking, one non). Ceremonies sked for 11 which means 1 or so I reckon. All the press will be there for fotos.

tflea said:

No refreshments or food inbound. Very limited for the time being, outbound.
No Duty Free yet, space is being built out though. One VIP lounge outbound, to be two in the future (one smoking, one non). Ceremonies sked for 11 which means 1 or so I reckon. All the press will be there for fotos.

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I was surprised, Ceremonies started almost on time, and you were right, no convoy of SUV's anymore, helicopters!
Lunch was good and the band was playing on.

WebDev

There's a problem of theft whenever tourists are leaving the country. When they pass the security scan, they have to put their wallet in a little basket, and the authority is stealing money from it...

It has been reported continuously on various Las Terrenas forums.

It has to be known. It has to change.

Dominican Northeast has its new international airport

EL CATEY, Saman?.- President Leonel Fernandez yesterday headed the inaugural of the new President Juan Bosch International Airport, built at a cost surpassing US$80 million by the management company Dominican Airports Century XXI (AERODOM).

The opening of the air terminal, which features a 3,000 meter long, 45 meter wide runway and a 45,000 square meter ramp area to service wide body 4 aircraft simultaneously, fills one of this province?s great longings, to harness its development as a tourism region.

Abraham Hazoury, president of the board of directors of the concessionary company of the Dominican airports, AERODOM, affirmed that since the airport initiated its operations on November 1, 2006, the zone?s hotel development boasts an "unstoppable takeoff."

Hazoury as well as Public Works minister Freddy Perez praised Fernandez visionary sense, and his insistence to conclude the works as fast as possible.

Perez, however, went even further. "We had a President who is adorned with the patience of Job; the wisdom of Solomon and the valor of David," stated the official, who once again, publicly called on Fernandez to remain in office.

The new terminal building is a Victorian style tropical architecture, with 9,000 square meters in first floor and 1,000 in the second level, and has the capacity to handle an average of 600 passengers at peak hours.

The decoration is allegorical to Dominicanism, through paintings and photographs.

The Evangelical community is gaining power over the Cardinal, ..

here's a very funny paragraph, ..

"La inauguraci?n de la obra se inici? poco despu?s del mediod?a, tras la llegada en helic?ptero del presidente Fern?ndez y su esposa Margarita Cede?o de Fern?ndez. Extra?amente, la nueva terminal, bautizada con el nombre de "Profesor Juan Bosch", fue bendecida por el reverendo Braulio Portes, de la Iglesia Evang?lica. Normalmente esta bendici?n religiosa ha estado a cargo de un sacerdote cat?lico..."

Bienvenidos al Hoy Digital#

aegap said:

here's a very funny paragraph, ..

"La inauguraci?n de la obra se inici? poco despu?s del mediod?a, tras la llegada en helic?ptero del presidente Fern?ndez y su esposa Margarita Cede?o de Fern?ndez. Extra?amente, la nueva terminal, bautizada con el nombre de "Profesor Juan Bosch", fue bendecida por el reverendo Braulio Portes, de la Iglesia Evang?lica. Normalmente esta bendici?n religiosa ha estado a cargo de un sacerdote cat?lico..."

Bienvenidos al Hoy Digital#

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I thought DR was a Roman Catholic nation? This is a bit weird but as long as the "proper rituals" were done I think that there should be no problem.

Inauguran Aeropuerto El Catey en Saman?
Ricardo Santana - 2/7/2007 11:38:00 PM


El presidente Leonel Fern?ndez durante la inauguraci?n del aeropuertointernacional de El Catey, en Saman?, al recorrer las instalacionesen compa??a de Andr?s Van der Horst, la gobernadora Elsa deLe?n y el senador Prim Pujals Nolasco, entre otros.

SAMAN?.- A un costo superior a los 80 millones de pesos, la empresa Aeropuertos Dominicanos Siglo XXI inaugur? el nuevo Aeropuerto Internacional El Catey, que en lo adelante llevar? el nombre de Juan Bosch.

El acto de inauguraci?n comenz? con la llegada del presidente Leonel Fern?ndez pr?ximo al mediod?a, las notas del Himno Nacional y la bendici?n a cargo del reverendo Braulio Portes.

En representaci?n de Aerodom, habl? Abraham Hazoury, presidente del Consejo de Administraci?n, quien destac? que en apenas unos meses de operaci?n de ese aeropuerto, el desarrollo hotelero de la zona exhibe un despegue indetenible.

Asimismo resalt? la oportuna intervenci?n del Presidente de la Rep?blica ante las c?maras legislativas durante la discusi?n de la Rectificaci?n Fiscal que evit? que la provincia de Saman? fuera despojada de los incentivos que le otorga la ley 158, lo que hubiera impedido la ejecuci?n de las obras de infraestructuras necesarias para lograr el verdadero desarrollo tur?stico de la regi?n.

El empresario agradeci? al presidente Fern?ndez por el apoyo que ha brindado a AERODOM y al grupo ABRISA en todas sus iniciativas, as? como a los funcionarios del Gobierno vinculados a los asuntos portuarios y al sector hotelero dominicano, por el soporte incondicional y el esfuerzo realizado para hacer posible la habilitaci?n de la nueva terminal a?rea.

En la ceremonia tambi?n hicieron uso de la palabra el director del Departamento Aeroportuario, Andr?s Van Der Horst y el secretario de Obras P?blicas, Freddy P?rez.Van Der Horst dijo que la obra ofrece todas las condiciones para que la provincia de Saman? resurja ante todo el mundo, como un polo tur?stico trascendental que impacte positivamente en la econom?a tanto regional como nacional.

Mientras el titular de Obras P?blicas anunci? un conjunto de obras viales que ser?n construidas adicional al aeropuerto para hacer m?s viable y f?cil el acceso y transporte de los visitantes.

El funcionario comunic? que a la construcci?n de la carretera Saman?-Santo Domingo, que termina en Rinc?n de Molenillo, se le har? una extensi?n hasta Nagua con una inversi?n de 115 millones de pesos.

Tambi?n comunic? que desde el Aeropuerto El Catey se har? otra carretera que empalmar? a Las Terrenas y se reparar? la vieja v?a que da acceso a ese municipio tur?stico. La terminal inici? sus operaciones en noviembre del a?o pasado con el arribo de vuelos de las aerol?neas LTU y C?ndor. Actualmente opera 18 vuelos internacionales semanales, procedentes de ciudades de Europa como Mil?n, Par?s, Madrid, Frankfurt y Dusseldorf, as? como de la ciudades canadienses de Toronto, Montreal, Otawa y Vancouver. El aeropuerto est? dise?ado bajo los estrictos est?ndares de seguridad internacional.

Other than routing in because it's their hub, Atlanta doesn't make a lot of sense for el Catey. As it is, maybe 4 out of 100 guests we have come from the southeast US. Flights from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, New York City, Chicago or Montreal make more sense considering where our guests mostly come from. Even Vancouver, B.C. sends us more people than come through Atlanta.

Andy B said:

Other than routing in because it's their hub, Atlanta doesn't make a lot of sense for el Catey. As it is, maybe 4 out of 100 guests we have come from the southeast US. Flights from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, New York City, Chicago or Montreal make more sense considering where our guests mostly come from. Even Vancouver, B.C. sends us more people than come through Atlanta.

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Andy
Atlanta is the bussies Airport in the world, most of the people will come from another cities suchs the one you mention above. What I understants so far is rumor. they always looking for the possibility to serve new routes.
let see what happend by then end of nov, 2007.

Atlanta Hartsfield is ONE of the busiest airports in the US however MANY of it's flights are REGIONAL in nature. Before I came down to the DR, I lived in Florida for over 50 years and passed through Atlanta many times on various flights before Orlando became a major US airport. We used to have a joke that went "when you die you will go to Atlanta and then transfer up or down." When you look at our tourist base and where they LIVE, then the airports I mentioned above in my other post make more sense. Also, look at the carriers currently handling MOST of the traffic to the DR,...their main hubs are the feeders we want.

Wallets & Theft

Squat said:

There's a problem of theft whenever tourists are leaving the country. When they pass the security scan, they have to put their wallet in a little basket, and the authority is stealing money from it...

It has been reported continuously on various Las Terrenas forums.

It has to be known. It has to change.

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The 'security scan', whether the magnatometer or the x-ray machine, are for detecting METAL objects. If you don't carry anything metal in your wallet there is no reason to even take it out of your pocket. For females to be more secure, don't leave a wallet in a purse or pack, put it in a pocket and walk on through. This doesn't address the core issue of dishonest gov't employees, but in a country where poverty prevails, it is easier to take preventive measures than to influence a major economic shift in a country.

tflea;489279t said:

is easier to take preventive measures than to influence a major economic shift in a country.

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That would be ok for "street-smart" residents... You are perfectly right.

But for regular tourists, most of them 1st timers, this is simply unacceptable. It has to be widely publicized, so the Dominican GVT gets some motivation to kick some axxes around and have their employees behave the proper way...

This airport is a chance for the region, so it makes sense to try to improve the situation a bit...

Squat said:

That would be ok for "street-smart" residents... You are perfectly right.

But for regular tourists, most of them 1st timers, this is simply unacceptable. It has to be widely publicized, so the Dominican GVT gets some motivation to kick some axxes around and have their employees behave the proper way...

This airport is a chance for the region, so it makes sense to try to improve the situation a bit...

Click to expand...

I do belive that people working at the airport, are not government employees, but employees of YVRAS, who is responsible for the management, development and operation of six airports in DR including Samana International Airport at El Catey. As I remember, this scaning machine operators are outside of the machine and cant access the content passing thru the scaner, unless they are some 8 inches talls dominicans hiding inside the scanners.

Re: Atlanta-Samana route.
The Minister of Public Works, Freddy P?rez mention in his speach at the inauguration of "Profesor Juan Bosch" Airport (February 07 2007) of the Delta proposal to cover Atlanta-Samana route. See DR Public Works web site for reference.

WebDev

WebDev said:

I do belive that people working at the airport, are not government employees, but employees of YVRAS, who is responsible for the management, development and operation of six airports in DR including Samana International Airport at El Catey. As I remember, this scaning machine operators are outside of the machine and cant access the content passing thru the scaner, unless they are some 8 inches talls dominicans hiding inside the scanners.


WebDev

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I wish AERODOM would be in charge of it but, much as in the sea ports, security and immigration is the responsability of the state/ Dominican government ..ie CESA, DNCD, SEA etc.(?).

Kinda

Security check points are handled by CESA, a gov't agency consisting of military personnel. YVRAS only has a very few directors in the DR heading up the management team, there are 6 of them. YVRAS is a minority shareholder in Aerodom but the managing partner because of their know-how, as opposed to the majority shareholders being simpy investors.

WebDev said:

As I remember, this scaning machine operators are outside of the machine and cant access the content passing thru the scaner, unless they are some 8 inches talls dominicans hiding inside the scanners

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-So how do you explain the various reports of theft ???

FYI those reports came from different people who don't know each other...