Activities at Santo Domingo’s Herrera Airport should cease on 15 July when the new airport at La Isabela begins its operations. But the president of Air Century, Omar Chain Lama, warned that the airlines would stay at Herrera until they are paid RD$25 million in compensation, as reported in Hoy. Chain Lama said that authorities have not complied with a large part of the agreement signed between the government and businesses during the previous administration. Meanwhile, Public Works Deputy Minister Francisco Gonzalez sustained that the Airport Commission has complied with all the requisites established by the Civil Aeronautics Board to authorize the operation of domestic flights from La Isabela beginning next 15 July. The operation consists of closing Herrera and opening La Isabela, without a transition period, stated Gonzalez. He said that the airlines have already been assigned their spaces at the new terminal and they will have everything ready on the specified date to begin their operations, as all obstacles have been resolved. The airline companies say that the new Joaquin Balaguer International Airport has yet to be certified by the Civil Aviation Board in the DR, and by the International Civil Aviation Organization and Federal Aviation Agency of the United States for international flights. News sources also highlight that another reason behind the reticence of the domestic air companies to relocate is that fees for operating at the new airport are much higher than they are paying today at Herrera.