Sky High Aviation Services presented its first Embraer E190 at an event held at Santo Domingo’s Las Americas International Airport (SDQ/AILA).
The Dominican company initially ordered two aircraft, being the only operator of the model in the Caribbean.
See also: Sky High Dominicana joins ALTA
“The Embraer 190 is the ideal aircraft that provides the opportunity to extend Sky High’s range of action, in addition to elevating the level of travel experience to our passengers on existing routes essential for continued development as a leading operator in the Caribbean,” said Sky High Aviation Services president Juan Chamizo Alonso.
The second aircraft will enter service within 60 days. Air Astana operated both for nine years and have nine seats in executive and 88 in economy.
Juan Chamizo said they plan to close 2022 with four E190s, also ex-Air Astana, which will complement the current fleet of two 50-passenger Embraer ERJ 145s (HI-1056 and HI-1052). In addition, the aircraft will enable it to open new routes to the United States, Central America, and South America.
Embraer in the Caribbean
The Caribbean represents 1% of Embraer’s worldwide fleet in the Caribbean, with Embraer 120 and ERJ 145 aircraft. The celebration of a new operator is welcome, considering that it will be the only airline to operate it.
According to the intelligence platform Ch-Aviation, the companies that have Embraer models in the region are the following:
interCaribbean (Turks & Caicos): 10 Embraer 120s and two ERJ 145s.
Western Air (Bahamas): five ERJ 145s.
Aurora Airlines Anguilla (Anguilla): four Embraer 170s.
Sky High Aviation Services (Dominican Republic): two ERJ 145s and one Embraer 190 (with an order for three more).
IBC Airways (Bahamas): one ERJ 145.
Orex Aviation (Aruba): one Legacy 600.
Sunrise Airways (Haiti): one Embraer 120.
Previously Air Caraïbes operated two ERJ 145 (2000-2008), one Embraer 175 (2006-2008) and one Embraer 190 (2008-2013).
Sky High’s current operations
The airline was founded in 2012 with several turboprops including Jetstream 41s and several Beechcraft. They initially started offering tourist flights from Punta Cana and is currently the largest carrier in the Dominican Republic in terms of destinations.
Sky High operates the following destinations from Santo Domingo/Las Americas International Airport (SDQ):
- Anguilla (AXA); twice weekly flights (Monday and Thursday).
- Antigua and Barbuda (ANU); one weekly flight (Saturdays).
- Beef Island (EIS); two weekly flights (Wednesdays and Saturdays).
- Bonaire (BON); one weekly flight (Fridays).
- Caracas (CCS), Venezuela; starts July 1º with three weekly flights (Wednesday, Friday and Sunday).
- Curaçao (CUR); two weekly flights (Friday and Sunday).
- Fort de France (FDF); two weekly flights (Monday and Thursday).
- Holguín (HOG), Cuba; two weekly flights (Thursday and Sunday).
- Havana (HAV), Cuba; starts June 3 with two weekly flights (Monday and Friday).
- Maracaibo (MAR), Venezuela; begins July 3 with twice-weekly flights (Wednesday and Sunday).
- Pointe-a-Pitre (PTP); two weekly flights (Friday and Sunday).
- Porlamar (PMV), Venezuela; starts July 2 with two weekly flights (Thursday and Saturday).
- Santiago de Cuba; Cuba (SCU); starts June 4 with two weekly flights (Tuesdays and Saturdays).
- Basseterre (SKB), St. Kitts; twice weekly flights (Tuesdays and Saturdays).
- St. Maarten (SXM); four weekly flights (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays).
- Valencia (VLN), Venezuela; starts July 2 with two weekly flights (Thursdays and Saturdays).
It also has charter flights to Managua (MGU) in Nicaragua and Kingston (KIN) in Jamaica.
Sky High will soon land in the United States, after having applied for flights to Boston (BOS), Houston (IAH), Miami (MIA), Orlando (MCO) and Tampa (TPA) from Punta Cana (PUJ), Puerto Plata (POP) and Santo Domingo (SDQ) before the Dominican Republic’s Civil Aviation Board (JAC).
