Sti effect to pop

manny20 said:

does anyone feel that POP took a hit when STI opened over a decade ago?or doesnt matter because of the tourism in puerto plata

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What are you referring to...airports???

Airlines route to where the traffic is.
Pop tourism dropped off too much.
SG business travel increased.

Pelut, Manny20,
A recent poll suggests that most of the Expats coming to STI in fact end up on the North Coast so the totals for the north coast need to include the expats coming to STI and POP. Preferred Airport for North Coast Tourists - View Poll Results

If you look at January 2014 versa Jan 2013 there has been a drop of over 3 % coming to the North Coast. POP - 43819; STI 10,320 ; total 54139 for January 2014 and POP - 45650 ; STI 9251 ; Total 55901 in January 2013. Santiago STI has had an increase of over 11% since 2013.

THe weather in the USA is probaby a factor in this decrease for January 2014.

Olly and the Team

While STI is almost always less expensive than POP, the added cost of taxis usually makes up or exceeds the fare benefit for STI. Also the bad flight times often in the early AM hours and extra ground travel time have meant I still use POP.

A recent check of flights to NY via POP using American frequent flier miles are showing some really bad connections so I am re-visiting STI and even SDQ as options.

Windeguy,
In many cases groups of people come to STI and share a Taxi. This still makes it more affordable often than POP overall.

If you consider POP airport arrivals yes it took a hit when STI opened.
If you are looking at North Coast tourism STI in fact added to the numbers.

Olly and the Team

Puerto Plata (POP) has more flights than Santiago (STI)

Direct flights from Cibao International Airport in Santiago (STI):
Miami: American and Amerijet International
Panama: Copa
New York: Delta, JetBlue
Orlando: Spirit
San Juan, Puerto Rico: JetBlue
Flights effective through April 2014

and

Direct regular flights to Puerto Plata?s Gregorio Luper?n International Airport (POP):

Munich & Dusseldorf: Air Berlin
Frankfurt: Condor
Amsterdam: Arkefly
Helsinki: Finnair
Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm: Novair
Montreal, Halifax, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Charlottetown: Air Canada, Air Transat, CanJet, WestJet
Providenciales: Air Turks and Caicos Providenciales
Miami: American
New York: JetBlue
Newark: United
Flights effective through April 2014


Direct charter flights to Gregorio Luper?n International Airport (POP):
Charlottetown, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Winnipeg: Air Transat/CanJet, SunWingAmsterdam: Arkefly
Helsinki: Finnair
Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm: Novair, Thomsonfly
Gatwick, Manchester: Thomsonfly
Prague: Travel Service
Paris: XL Airways
Flights effective through April 2014

Dolores,
Thats a great total for the "Airlines" using each airport but it does not reflect the number of "Aircraft". I am sure you have those numbers too! Can you share!

Olly and the Team

Olly said:

Dolores,
Thats a great total for the "Airlines" using each airport but it does not reflect the number of "Aircraft". I am sure you have those numbers too! Can you share!

Olly and the Team

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Nope! When doing the research at the time was only interested in the airlines.

The best way to find out would be to contact Aerodom and the Santiago airport administration directly.

manny20 said:

does anyone feel that POP took a hit when STI opened over a decade ago?or doesnt matter because of the tourism in puerto plata

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A large percentage of Puerto Plata's passengers were Dominicans native to the Cibao Valley. When Cibao Intl opened, most Dominicans that used to fly through Puerto Plata change to Cibao because nothing beats landing and being home within minutes vs hours. Puerto Plata became more of a tourist airport and then the downfall of tourism on the north coast explains the rest. Supposedly things are improving, but...

This is a good resource to see what flights arrive/depart from airports:
Airport Departures and Arrivals

family and friends here in POP fly to/from STI often. the difference in a price can be 100-200 dollars per ticket. it comes out cheaper to drive back. my in laws travel to USA maybe 5 times a year and they leave from STI and come back to POP or the other way around. that airport simply gave them more option in terms of travel. my friends who came from USA flew to STI each time, apparently it was cheaper than POP.

personally i am not a fan. only landed in STI once and i still curse that day. i have motion sickness as it is but approach to STI takes the cake. the sudden drop, climb up, another sudden drop... wtf? just kill me now. when we landed i was ready to kiss the ground.