Startup budget carrier Arajet set for first US routes as it tries to build a Caribbean hub
Dominican airline Arajet will make its U.S. debut this spring with flights to Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico, a key step in realizing its dream of building a Pan-American hub in Santo Domingo.
The budget carrier will begin flights to Miami International Airport (MIA) from Santo Domingo's Las Americas International Airport (SDQ) on April 11. Then, on June 5, it will add flights to San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) from SDQ. Both routes will operate six days a week.
Arajet will also link MIA and Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ) four days a week from June 13.
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Later in June, Arajet plans to connect New York and Santo Domingo as well. No start date for this route has been provided yet.
"Beginning U.S. operations with flights from these cities is the next step towards realizing our vision of the [Dominican Republic] as a new travel hub of the continent," Victor Pacheco, CEO and founder of Arajet, said in a statement. "This is the beginning of our U.S. operations, and these routes will expand tourism in our region, making it easier for travelers to discover our country and connect to exciting destinations in neighboring Caribbean islands as well as Central and South America."
Airfares for Arajet's new U.S. routes start at $84 one-way.
Founded in 2022, Arajet wants to develop Santo Domingo — the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic — into a connecting hub linking North and South America. The airline envisions something similar to Copa Airlines' "Hub of the Americas" at Panama City's Tocumen International Airport (PTY).
Arajet flies an all-Boeing 737 MAX fleet with 10 737-8s in service and another 20 737-8200s on order. At the end of last year, the carrier served 21 cities in Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America from its bases in Punta Cana and Santo Domingo, according to schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Arajet faces stiff competition in its U.S. expansion. American Airlines, Frontier Airlines and SkyHigh Dominicana fly the Miami-Santo Domingo route, while American, Frontier and LATAM fly the Miami-Punta Cana route, Cirium schedules show. Additionally, Frontier, JetBlue and SkyHigh Dominicana fly the San Juan-Santo Domingo route.
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