Primarily a port of arrival for sun-seeking vacationers, Punta Cana International leads the nation in number of charter flight arrivals. During the January-April period, the Punta Cana airport received 481,664 passengers on board charter flights. Only 21,408 passengers arrived on scheduled flights. Puerto Plata, in the north coast, received 179,183 passengers on board charters, and 39,596 passengers were transported on regular flights. Las Americas primarily handled regular flights, with 335,870 passengers on board these regular flights and only 9,037 passengers coming on charters. La Romana international received 88,822 passengers on charters and 20,576 passengers by regular flights. All traffic into Cibao International Airport (Santiago) flew in on regular flights. 93% of Punta Cana?s arrivals flew in on charter, 82% of La Romana?s, contrary to Las Americas, where charter traffic made up only 3.8% of total incoming flights.
The Central Bank says that charter traffic increased 11.6% for the period, while regular flight traffic was only up 3.2%. Regular scheduled flights are affected by the depreciation of the peso, which has affected the ability of Dominicans to travel during the first four months of the year.