SDQ...Allow Plenty of Time to Clear Security and Immigration on Departure

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ju10prd

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The article in todays Diario Libre confirms my recent experiences departing from SDQ.

http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...rasos-en-el-aeropuerto-las-americas-NE4886492

If your flight leaves mid morning to mid afternoon be sure to allow at the very least the two hours and probably more for check in and clearance of security and immigration.

Jet Blue check in has seen very long snaking queues recently so check in on line if you can........otherwise there is a guy who will fast track you but is expecting dollars!

Security has seen lengthy queues with only one security team working and immigration has been short staffed on the exit desks with no auto gate operation so queues are lengthy. Airlines then find they have late passengers in the queues and they get fast tracked which cause tempers to fray. Equally people who have to pay the overstay get to the desk after a long wait and get sent to the cashier and then try to rejoin the front of the queue after payment creating more friction.

Allow more time until this problem gets sorted. Maybe the changes in airport ownership is having an effect...who knows.
 
R

Riva_31

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Apr 1, 2013
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ju10prd said:
The article in todays Diario Libre confirms my recent experiences departing from SDQ.

http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...rasos-en-el-aeropuerto-las-americas-NE4886492

If your flight leaves mid morning to mid afternoon be sure to allow at the very least the two hours and probably more for check in and clearance of security and immigration.

Jet Blue check in has seen very long snaking queues recently so check in on line if you can........otherwise there is a guy who will fast track you but is expecting dollars!

Security has seen lengthy queues with only one security team working and immigration has been short staffed on the exit desks with no auto gate operation so queues are lengthy. Airlines then find they have late passengers in the queues and they get fast tracked which cause tempers to fray. Equally people who have to pay the overstay get to the desk after a long wait and get sent to the cashier and then try to rejoin the front of the queue after payment creating more friction.

Allow more time until this problem gets sorted. Maybe the changes in airport ownership is having an effect...who knows.
Click to expand...

The administration of the airport do not deal with inmigrations and custom process, that is still in goverment hands. Now Im more happy that I registered my passport to use the autogate, I used it in June and took me less than one minute pass by the autogate.
 
W

william webster

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Riva,
ju's report indicates the autogates are not working.

from today's news

Lack of migration agents creates long lines at SDQ
An apparent shortage of migration inspectors at the airport immigration desks has been causing long lines for departing passengers, according to El Nacional newspaper reporters covering events at Las Americas International Airport (SDQ).

Staff from the airlines that operate out of the airport complained of the lack of migration inspectors and said that this was causing departure delays of as long as half an hour. They said that only six of the 12 immigration booths were staffed, causing passenger discomfort and delayed departures.

They said that the problem has been reported to the migration authorities and airport administration but nothing has been done.

Airline executives who spoke to reporters asked for their identities to be withheld in order to avoid reprisals. They stated that there were not enough inspectors to check two or three flights at the same time during peak hours.

The reduction in the Migration staff coincides with the installation of the new autogate migration inspection machines at the Las Americas International System, enabling passengers to complete the outgoing migration process without the need of a migration inspector.
 
W

william webster

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Install new machines to reduce staff.

Install machines & Reduce staff.

New machines malfunction, need staff back...........too late

Passenger backlog results.

Classic implementation issues..........Business 101
Need to run a parallel system during phase in period
 
T

Tashi Siu's Dad

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Jan 7, 2016
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william webster said:
Install new machines to reduce staff.

Install machines & Reduce staff.

New machines malfunction, need staff back...........too late

Passenger backlog results.

Classic implementation issues..........Business 101
Need to run a parallel system during phase in period
Click to expand...

Ahhh....don't think that's the "Dominican" way of doing business...just a thought....
 
K

kapitan75

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I always thought 2-3 hours prior to international departure time was the norm. We did have a 1/2 hour wait time at Security on our last visit.
 
J

ju10prd

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http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...ue-no-falta-personal-en-aeropuertos-CB4892163

The new head of DGM has come back with an explanation today stating that a new fully automated immigration system is being introduced which is linking information from all border points to monitor all entries an exits. Previously the system was manual.

You might also want to absorb what he is saying in the last two paragraphs of the article.....

Agreg? que los controles se establecen en la entrada y salida de cada uno, pero es a las autoridades que les pertenece establecer qui?nes son los que se quedan a vivir en el pa?s, “porque su tiempo de permanencia son dos meses”.

“Una vez se le cumple el tiempo establecido por la ley para un venezolano permanecer en el pa?s, entonces es ah? cuando entran los organismos de inteligencia y Migraci?n, comienza la b?squeda y se repatr?an”, agreg?.


He added that the controls are set in the input and output of each one, but it is to the authorities that belongs to them establish who are the people who are left to live in the country, "because your dwell time are two months". "Once it meets the time established by the law for a Venezuelan remain in the country, then it is there when they enter the intelligence agencies and Migration, the search begins and repatriate", he added.

The reference he chose was a Venezualan overstaying the permitted two months can now be automatically identified and enters the intelligence services and immigration log and the search begins to locate them and repatriate.

A sign of things to come perhaps?
 
C

cbmitch9

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Nov 3, 2010
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In all my travels to the DR, I have never spent more than 1/2 hour total waiting in line in security and dealing with the "migracion" folks when leaving SDQ. I always arrive at least 2 hours prior to departure.
If you arrive late and you miss your flight, due to long lines it's all on you in my opinion.
 
W

william webster

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Mitch
our boy ju10 travels frequently....really a lot.

he knows what goes on at SDQ.....
he seems to be seeing a 'change' in the making.... maybe a permanent one.

I agree with you, I seem to breeze through most times.... effortlessly

I have stopped using using SDQ for other reasons but , nonetheless...........
 
J

ju10prd

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william webster said:
Mitch
our boy ju10 travels frequently....really a lot.

he knows what goes on at SDQ.....
he seems to be seeing a 'change' in the making.... maybe a permanent one.

I agree with you, I seem to breeze through most times.... effortlessly

I have stopped using using SDQ for other reasons but , nonetheless...........
Click to expand...

This is a recent thing.

I have posted previously that earlier in the year in high season before the era of auto gates, the whole process was relatively quick even at peak times.

During my last exit a week and a bit back I witnessed Jet Blue check in queues extending half the length of Terminal B, a delayed opening of Insel Air check in, and a chaotic check in at the Venezuelan airline.........and PAWA wasn't flying that day.

Just one security check line was operating and the queue for that snaked into mid hall with a lack of bins.

And then on the other side the immigration queues were almost full both sides and it was a good half hour waiting your turn for one of two available officers dealing with your line.

Reminiscing, I believe back in high season, there were only six immigration officers on duty, so the explanation of a new system being introduced may explain part of the problem (along with a determination to track down Venezuelans overstaying).

Hopefully all this media attention will get things back to normal promptly and before I next fly.

Still much better than SXM at peak, plus the SDQ arrival process has been good....except for those crappy buses they use occasionally when the bridges are full with incoming flights.

......in relation to normal check in time allowance, we expats are pretty good at getting to the airport on time well in advance by two hours or more. Not quite so with some of our co Dominican passengers who invariably leave it to the last minute and are likely the ones delaying some of the recent departures being caught in the longer than normal queues. How many times have you been sat on a virtually full plane for half an hour or more and then a few stragglers arrive before doors close?
 
C

cbmitch9

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Nov 3, 2010
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I have also noted another strange thing...Lots of people are now boarding using wheelchair assistance.
I have seen the line for pre-boarding on JetBlue loaded with people using wheelchairs.
I travel extensively and I have only seen this in DR.
 
D

DRdreaming

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Jul 29, 2014
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cbmitch9 said:
I have also noted another strange thing...Lots of people are now boarding using wheelchair assistance.
I have seen the line for pre-boarding on JetBlue loaded with people using wheelchairs.
I travel extensively and I have only seen this in DR.
Click to expand...
Flew into STI this week. Lots of wheelchairs. And no one understands what it means to "line up" when your group is called.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 
W

william webster

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R

rfp

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Yeah flying to and from the RD is a disastrous experience even when you can get into business class. A foreigner could figure out Dominican disfunction, underperformance and complete irrelevance on the internal stage just by taking a flight from New York. The wheel chair folks can all walk just fine, they prefer to scam at every opportunity. I would rather have Syrians immigrate than Dominicans
 
W

william webster

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A phenomenon , certainly.

Mother (now Saint ) Teresa would have had a field day creating walking miracles at the arrivals level in RD.

Would have been canonized much earlier ----- hahaha
 
W

william webster

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Living in Cabrera , I use either POP or AZS.

AZS is only good when I'm in Cananda ( june/May or Sept/Oct)

The savings at SDQ usually get eaten up by the gas/tolls and driver to the airport.
It's twice the distance of the others.
 
M

Mauricio

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Nov 18, 2002
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So, I left on time today to be three hours before departure time at the airport as advised in the papers, and here I am sitting at the gate staring at the sign that says we are leaving in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Check in took 5 minutes, security and migration maybe 15. Both my (Dominican) wife and I (resident) had to 'deblock' our foreign passports at another counter because last time we entered was more than 30 days ago, and then go back to the migration officer but all went fast.
 
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