Central Bank tourist statistics for the first half of the year continue to show that Punta Cana is the most used airport in the Dominican Republic. From January to June, 718,331 passengers arrived by that terminal, with a peak number of arrivals in February ? 136,864. Punta Cana caters to leisure tourists that fly in primarily to stay at the Punta Cana-Bavaro area hotels. Only 938 residents used that terminal during the first half of the year.
Las Americas, which is the local airport with the largest number of regular flights, and primarily serves arrivals to Santo Domingo, is the second most used airport, with 553,253 arrivals. Puerto Plata is next with 356,244 arrivals, followed by La Romana with 133,918 and Cibao with 125,082. Puerto Plata arrivals increased 26%, reflecting the start of new charter flights into the destination.
Charter flight operations dominated at the Punta Cana (91% of arrivals), Puerto Plata (85% of arrivals) and La Romana (79% of arrivals) terminals. Las Americas in Santo Domingo and Cibao in Santiago were primarily served by regular flights. Regular flights increased 3.6% at Las Americas and 59.9% at Punta Cana, while declining 7% in Puerto Plata and 22% in La Romana. Charter flights were up 50.6% to Las Americas, 33% to Puerto Plata and 5.3% to Punta Cana.