The Bill that seeks to provide a legal framework for an “open skies” policy will be modified so that all airlines authorized by the U.S. Federal Aviation Agency, or by the similar European organizations, will be permitted to operate in the Dominican Republic, said the Bill’s presenter, Senator Miguel Andrés Berroa Reyes and the Vice President of the Senate, Senator Virgilio Castillo. The two added that the bill will be reintroduced to Congress as soon as the Senate resumes its work in August.
In the opinion of Senator Berroa Reyes, one of the reasons for the problems confronting the Civil Aviation Board is that it has been spending more time looking for the money generated by the aviation industry than on the technical aspects.
“Because of that, the country continues to be in FAA category III and our aircraft are not permitted to fly anywhere, which means that the Civil Aviation Board, instead of seeing that air safety is working, is behaving as if it were a private company set up to do business, which is not its mission,” they said.
Senators Berroa Reyes and Castillo said that the Bill eliminates bureaucratic obstacles and stipulates that the CAB should concentrate on technical aspects. They also said that the modification to the original Bill will require that the CAB recognize as valid the certificates issued in the developed countries to airline companies.
Senator Berroa feels that while the Bill is being discussed, Dominican travelers are being hurt by the high air fares, which he considers are probably the highest in the Caribbean, and the tourist industry is complaining of a decline in tourists due to the lack of airline seats.