Airlines Moving Around in DR

[MiamiDRGuy]

I was checking flightradar24 to track a plane where my daughter is on and somehow this caught my eye

I assume they are ferry the plane to SDQ before going back to Mardid?

 

[habi]

DE2144 (Condor Flugdienst) is flying every Wednesday and Sunday from FRA to POP then to SDQ and back to FRA....
Already for some time....

 

[MiamiDRGuy]

DE2144 (Condor Flugdienst) is flying every Wednesday and Sunday from FRA to POP then to SDQ and back to FRA....
Already for some time....

ah interesting, thanks for heads up

 

[josh2203]

DE2144 (Condor Flugdienst) is flying every Wednesday and Sunday from FRA to POP then to SDQ and back to FRA....
Already for some time....

I believe they have been doing this for years now. We only fly with Condor and over the years, many flights from/to POP pass either by the capital or by Jamaica or something. This has actually been a smart move from Condor (this could have been done by a regional/Dominican airline as well, but nobody apparently saw the opportunity), as by doing this, they bring the prices down a bit as they are able to fill the plane (if not so many passengers are coming to/from POP) before heading towards Europe or when coming from Europe.

 

[Notengo]

Tui also has been doing the same thing for years. Direct flights to Punta Cana “return” to Europe via Jamaica or Bonaire.

 

[Riva_31]

Tui also has been doing the same thing for years. Direct flights to Punta Cana “return” to Europe via Jamaica or Bonaire.

That's very common, Air Caraibes do the same they are doing ORY-SSA-SDQ-ORY and announced new change to to flight ORY-SDQ-PUJ-ORY, Air France in low season used to do CDG-PUJ-SDQ-CDG 2 times a week, Condor used to do FRA-SDQ-SJO-SDQ-FRA then when they change with Lufhansa to fly to SJO switched to do FRA-POP-SDQ-FRA.

 

[NALs]

I was checking flightradar24 to track a plane where my daughter is on and somehow this caught my eye


View attachment 9663

I assume they are ferry the plane to SDQ before going back to Mardid?

They do that because Puerto Plata can’t fill one of their airplanes by itself. This is similar to Arajet flying from SD to Santiago and then down to Medellín (it follows that route in reverse when flying back to SD.) If Arajet dedicates an airplane to fill up at least beyond break even in Santiago and do the flight STI-Medellín, in a few months it will have to either reduce it to just one season or eliminate it completely.

 

[NALs]

I believe they have been doing this for years now. We only fly with Condor and over the years, many flights from/to POP pass either by the capital or by Jamaica or something. This has actually been a smart move from Condor (this could have been done by a regional/Dominican airline as well, but nobody apparently saw the opportunity), as by doing this, they bring the prices down a bit as they are able to fill the plane (if not so many passengers are coming to/from POP) before heading towards Europe or when coming from Europe.

In the DR it isn’t like in the US or even much of Europe where there are several companies already offering certain services that essentially support the main service. In this case the main service is the flight from Europe to the DR and the support services is flying from other parts of the DR or nearby countries to the airport where in this case Condor fly from Europe. Those regional flights would function as a sort of feed to Condor to fill the gaps for its direct flight back to Europe from the DR.

In the DR a company in just about any sector will have to go through vertical integration, which is nothing more they have to do everything from their main business to everything that would support it. Either do that or that main business will not be functioning for long.

 

[Notengo]

In the DR it isn’t like in the US or even much of Europe where there are several companies already offering certain services that essentially support the main service. In this case the main service is the flight from Europe to the DR and the support services is flying from other parts of the DR or nearby countries to the airport where in this case Condor fly from Europe. Those regional flights would function as a sort of feed to Condor to fill the gaps for its direct flight back to Europe from the DR.

In the DR a company in just about any sector will have to go through vertical integration, which is nothing more they have to do everything from their main business to everything that would support it. Either do that or that main business will not be functioning for long.

No airline will fly extra hours + pay extra landing fees just “to fill the gaps”. These extra stops ARE the main service. For example AMS>PUJ>BON>AMS : when landed in Punta Cana around half of the passengers remain seated because they are going to Bonaire. The other half is filled with passengers who are actually going back to AMS via BON. Without one of these destinations they wouldn’t fly.
The airlines that can fly from Europe to the DR and back without extra stops are originating from regions in Europe that have enough demand or function as a hub (like Madrid).

 

[NALs]

No airline will fly extra hours + pay extra landing fees just “to fill the gaps”.

They certainly would if it makes economic sense. If that extra stop will actually be an extra expense of the airline they wouldn’t do it. The extra income they get from the sale of the seats being filled in the stop needs to cover the cost of doing that.

These extra stops ARE the main service. For example AMS>PUJ>BON>AMS : when landed in Punta Cana around half of the passengers remain seated because they are going to Bonaire. The other half is filled with passengers who are actually going back to AMS via BON. Without one of these destinations they wouldn’t fly.

They change the stop to another one if it’s possible, like Condor would stop in Jamaica if it wasn’t Puerto Plata. The added cost has to be covered.

mThe airlines that can fly from Europe to the DR and back without extra stops are originating from regions in Europe that have enough demand or function as a hub (like Madrid).

Air Europa flies to Santo Domingo full of mostly Dominicans that live in Spain. It’s basically the same on their new MAD-STI.

Similar to Jetblue on the JFK-SDQ route or JFK-STI.

 

[josh2203]

In the DR it isn’t like in the US or even much of Europe where there are several companies already offering certain services that essentially support the main service. In this case the main service is the flight from Europe to the DR and the support services is flying from other parts of the DR or nearby countries to the airport where in this case Condor fly from Europe. Those regional flights would function as a sort of feed to Condor to fill the gaps for its direct flight back to Europe from the DR.

In the DR a company in just about any sector will have to go through vertical integration, which is nothing more they have to do everything from their main business to everything that would support it. Either do that or that main business will not be functioning for long.

Yes, I realize this, hence saying what I said above. Correct, feeding routes are common in EU. So the opportunity is there, just that local/regional businesses do not explore it...

 

[josh2203]

No airline will fly extra hours + pay extra landing fees just “to fill the gaps”. These extra stops ARE the main service. For example AMS>PUJ>BON>AMS : when landed in Punta Cana around half of the passengers remain seated because they are going to Bonaire. The other half is filled with passengers who are actually going back to AMS via BON. Without one of these destinations they wouldn’t fly.

Yes, this was kind of the point above. As NAL pointed out as well, in EU (and apparently in the US), the extra stops in the Caribbean would be carried out by a feeder route, not via the main route going back to Europe. Exactly, Condor does the same, many departures from POP to FRA have first a stop in either SDQ or Montego Bay in Jamaica and then, with the passengers from both of these destinations boarded, they actually head back from the Caribbean towards EU and FRA. These stops add usually at least an extra hour to the trip for passengers from POP, but you can see the difference in the purchase price of the tickets, compared to a direct flight PUJ-FRA for example.

The airlines that can fly from Europe to the DR and back without extra stops are originating from regions in Europe that have enough demand or function as a hub (like Madrid).

So just to clarify, a large part of Condor routes Germany - the DR are direct routes if you look in total. PUJ obviously almost always fills their planes, so I have never seen a single service to PUJ with extra stops, whether it's from FRA or MUC, but POP definitely is lacking passengers at times, due to these extra stops.

Another clarification: it's not that FRA as an airport in Germany would not have a demand in this case (so the problem with demand is not in Europe, but in the DR=POP), I believe, but rather that nobody (sarcasm) from Europe wants to go to POP, everyone goes to PUJ. Planes to PUJ are direct (at least they used to be), and they even service PUJ from at least two airports in Germany, but POP is a less attractive option, so they need to share that with SDQ or Montego Bay.

 

[Notengo]

All true. As far as I know from AMS the only flight to the DR is a combined flight to Punta Cana. The reason for that are the historic ties to the dutch Antilles ( Bonaire, Aruba, Curacao, St Maarten) so these are the number 1 destinations in the Cariben for most people in the Netherlands. Also the Dominican population here is not big enough to sustain more flights to the DR.

 

[Fulano2]

[quote{Also the Dominican population here is not big enough to sustain more flights to the DR.[/quote]
Most of the flight from Brussels to Punta Cana are full of Dominicans, mainly from the Netherlands.

 

[Liberator]

[quote{Also the Dominican population here is not big enough to sustain more flights to the DR.

Most of the flight from Brussels to Punta Cana are full of Dominicans, mainly from the Netherlands.
[/QUOTE]
It's a shame that SDQ has been removed from the flight schedule from BRU. Recently Iberia offers these flights again.

 

[Fulano2]

Yes. And not to forget POP