In late December, the United States and the Dominican Republic governments signed a bilateral open skies agreement, making it easier for carriers from each country to apply to operate flights between the two countries.
At the same time, Dominican Republic’s Arajet was also granted permission to fly to Miami (MIA), San Juan (SJU) and New York (JFK). Earlier this month, the carrier published its first U.S. city pairings, offering flights to Miami from its two hubs, Santo Domingo (SDQ) and Punta Cana (PUJ).
Arajet is now offering flights to San Juan, with plans to start servicing the new city from its two hubs from June 2025. To promote the launch, they are offering one-way fares as low as US $84 with all taxes included.
“Arajet is excited to welcome American tourists and the diaspora community with low fares to the Dominican Republic and more than 20 exciting destinations,” said Victor Pacheco, CEO and founder of Arajet. “Miami, San Juan, and coming soon New York represent strong tourism markets, and beginning U.S. operations with flights from these cities is the next step towards realizing our vision of the DR as a new travel hub of the continent. 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.”
Credit: ArajetThe airline will offer four weekly flights between Santo Domingo and San Juan, and three between Punta Cana and San Juan, even though that figure will be bumped up to four times weekly from August. All flights will be operated with their fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8s as follows:
| Origin | Destination | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Santo Domingo (SDQ) | San Juan (SJU) | Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays (Starts June 4, 2025) |
| San Juan (SJU) | Punta Cana (PUJ) | Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays (Starts June 4, 2025) |
| Punta Cana (PUJ) | San Juan (SJU) | Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays (Starts June 6, 2025) |
| San Juan (SJU) | Punta Cana (PUJ) | Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays (Starts June 6, 2025) |
Arajet faces stiff competition as the Santo Domingo – Puerto Rico route is already serviced by JetBlue, Frontier Airlines and Sky High, while Frontier and JetBlue both fly between San Juan and Punta Cana. However, they still have an advantage as they offer more convenient connections to parts of Central and South America via the Dominican Republic.
