New La Romana International Airport ready by November El Caribe newspaper reports that work is advancing on the construction of the La Romana International Airport located north of La Romana city. The new airport will be about 20 minutes driving distance from La Romana and the resort areas of Bayahibe and Dominicus. It will replace the Punta Aguila Airport that is located inside the Casa de Campo vacation complex. Diego de Moya Canaan, head of construction of the airport, said that construction is slated to be completed by November of this year. Construction is going up at a cost of RD$420 million. Engineer Moya, of Moya Supervisiones y Construcciones, said that the airport has been designed to look like a sugar mill, with the control tower will look like the chimney of a sugar factory. The owner of the airport, Central Romana, is one of the most productive sugar cane mills in the world. Moya Canaan told El Caribe that the airport will be able to adequately serve tourists projected to arrive to the area for the next 20 years. It will also be an airport of choice for residents in eastern towns, such as Higüey. This is because it will be closer to Higuey than the Punta Cana International Airport. Moya said that the airport construction is two months ahead of schedule. The airport is taking 13 months to build. He said that they are using the most advanced airport construction technology to build the 2,950 meter long and 45 meter wide runway. The airport will also have two taxiways of 750 meters each, and an additional kilometer as a free zone for the use by aircraft. The terminal has a built up area of 7,500 meters, with capacity for expansion as needed. He explained that the airport site was chosen after consulting with the United States Federal Aviation Administration. The construction will be able to resist the strongest winds of hurricanes that may affect the area. (8 March 2000)
