Las Americas International Airport-based Arajet is a major contender to grab a considerable share of US-DR air traffic.
This past week the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation (IDAC) confirmed the United States’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will carry out an international aviation safety assessment (IASA) of Dominican aviation operations. The assessment affects foreign air operators flying to the US or seeking to codeshare with a US airline. The FAA says that the IASA program provides the FAA with a consistent and effective method for safety determinations by evaluating state compliance with ICAO standards for civil aviation safety oversight.
The announcement comes when Arajet has requested permission to fly to New York and Miami, Florida in the US and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Based at Las Americas International Airport in eastern Santo Domingo, Arajet is a major competitor since it began flying in September 2022.
Arajet has gained a reputation as a reliable carrier that flies passengers on brand-new airplanes with attractive fares. The airline has become a leading carrier with low-cost flights to South America, Central America, Caribbean destinations and Mexico. The airline had prepared to start flights this 2023 to the United States, the main airline market. The DOT has yet to authorize the flights. Meanwhile, Arajet announces it will start flights to Toronto, Canada in October 2023.
Arajet is gaining in reputation at a time when customers of JetBlue, the main carrier for service between the US and the DR complain of significant delays in flights and other service failures.
In March 2023, Arajet requested an exemption on the US Department of Transportation applied rule requiring Dominican majority ownership to fly to several US cities, per the aviation agreement between the DR and the USA.
Arajet is a potential major competitor to the commercial interests of US airlines that control traffic between the US and the Dominican Republic. American Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, JetBlue, Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Sun Country Airlines and cargo/mail operators Federal Express Corporation and UPS, would be affected the strong competition unfolded by Arajet already in Latin American and Caribbean markets.
At present, airfares are high for flights to the United States, with frequencies controlled by US carriers. JetBlue is the major carrier, yet its image locally has been affected by several incidents of poor service, opening doors for the Dominican travelers to other alternatives, such as Arajet that has been gaining a reputation as a reliable airline. Delta is another carrier that has benefited with an increase in Dominican travelers after the many complaints about JetBlue service.
In the Dominican Republic there has been much speculation as to who owns Arajet. A self-described aviation watchdog sent a note objecting the DOT grant the exemption and sharing insights into the Arajet ownership. The note is public on the DOT website as the agency studies the Arajet request. Willie Banks-Williams accuses Arajet of being a politically-based venture and mentions that today Minister of Housing Carlos Bonilla was a major shareholder until transferring his ownership shares to a United Kingdom company. He opposes the granting of permission for Arajet to fly scheduled to the United States and says Arajet is unlawfully certified in the Dominican Republic due to nepotism, cronyism and corruption by Dominican aeronautical authorities and would represent unfair competition for United States airlines.
The opponent says that Arajet is applying predatory pricing and has the protection from the Dominican government that he says is in violation of the Air Transport agreement between the US and the DR.
In his observation of the request for an exemption on the citizenship-ownership rule made in March 2023, William Banks forecasted the “high possibility that a FAA IASA inspection of the Dominican Republic can take place.”
Arajet is 80% owned by Hulansera, SL, a Spanish real estate company, which in turn is reportedly owned by Bain Capital Credit SSS Fund. The robust funding has enabled Arajet to fly brand-new Boeing 737s and operate at the highest aviation standards.
Arajet has argued that the DOT has previously granted waivers on the non-citizen ownership requirement in its request for permission to fly to the US and Puerto Rico.
Arajet highlights the Dominican diaspora and travelers to the Dominican Republic, in general, would benefit from the lower fares the airline would make available.
Read more:
Listin Diario
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
El Caribe
Department of Transportation
US Department of Transportation
Simple Flying
IASA
IASA
17 July 2023