Victor Miguel Pacheco, president of AraJet, led a delegation of the company that traveled to El Salvador for a working meeting with local authorities, to inform them of its plans to disembark in that Central American country.
«For us at AraJet, one of our main objectives is precisely to bring people together, and a sister nation such as El Salvador is for the Dominican Republic is a great opportunity to achieve that goal,» said Pacheco in statements reproduced by the official press of the Presidency of El Salvador.
For his part, Cristian Flores, El Salvador’s commissioner for Strategic Projects, said that «together with all the institutions representing the government, we are working with the openness and speed that characterizes President Nayib Bukele. This airport has modern and spacious facilities, spaces that generate a positive experience for passengers».
AraJet was officially launched in March of this year, defining itself as the first ultra-low-cost airline in the Caribbean. It will be based at Las Americas International Airport in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where it plans to establish a continental hub to compete with other similar airlines such as Copa Airlines in Panama and Viva in Medellin. The Dominican government has already granted it authorization to fly to 31 cities.
See also: Terminal expansion of El Salvador’s International Airport inaugurated
Initially, it will operate with five brand new Boeing 737-8s, being the third Caribbean airline to own aircraft of this variant after Cayman Airways and Caribbean Airlines. Two of the aircraft are already in the Dominican Republic.
But in planning for future growth, it confirmed the acquisition of twenty 737-8-200s, the high-density version. AraJet has the financial backing of investors such as Bain Capital Special Situations and Griffin Global Asset Management.
The company is expected to generate more than 4,000 direct jobs and some 40,000 indirect jobs over the next five years. In addition, they plan to transport seven million passengers per year, making it the largest company in the history of the Dominican Republic.
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The Salvadoran government has been betting on tourism as one of the protagonists in the recovery of the economy in the post-pandemic period, recognizing that air connectivity is essential. In February of this year, a stage of expansion of the Monseñor Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport terminal was inaugurated, while work is also underway on projects such as the Pacific Airport.
According to data obtained by Aviacionline through Cirium, in June El Salvador will have an offer of 436,341 international seats, which represents a recovery of 80% compared to the same month of 2019.
