Arajet tops 5 million passengers and cements DR as an air hub

Arajet has carried 5 million passengers since it began operations in September 2022, the airline announced. The milestone comes with a network of more than 30 destinations in 17 countries and two main hubs, Santo Domingo and Punta Cana. The numbers behind it are stark: in 2025 it moved 1,480,278 passengers, 37% more than the previous year, and in the first half of 2026 it already totals 1,022,593, up from 624,706 in the same period of 2025, a 63.7% increase. CEO and founder Víctor Pacheco summed it up in the release: each new route expands the chance to attract visitors and generates economic activity. The full story is here.

The figure that should matter most to the hotel sector is not the cumulative total but the structure of the operation. Arajet combines direct flights with connections linking North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean through two airports that serve different purposes. Punta Cana remains the sun-and-sand gateway, while Santo Domingo gains weight as a stop for business, culture and family visits. That duality opens an interesting path for city hotels and for tour offerings that until now depended almost exclusively on the traditional source market.

Air connectivity is the first filter any tour operator applies before selling a destination. With a local airline moving that volume, the Dominican Republic stops being just a point of arrival and becomes a regional distribution platform. There is business there for receptive agencies, ground transport and dining outside the resorts. Also for MITUR, which has in this growth a solid argument to negotiate new routes and step up promotion in secondary markets across the continent.

The domestic precedent helps size the impact. Connectivity and border control are two sides of the same coin: in September, the seizure of US$600,000 from a Colombian national at Las Américas reminded that the airport is also a sensitive point that demands coordinated management. And in August, the push for the MICE segment with the presence at IBTM Americas 2026 showed the country wants to compete for a higher-spending traveler. Arajet feeds both agendas.

The read is clear: the challenge now is turning that passenger flow into overnight stays outside the traditional poles. Watch how occupancy evolves in Santo Domingo and Santiago hotels, whether the connection program adds routes to the southern cone and whether authorities back it with airport infrastructure and migration facilitation. That is where the opportunity lies for Arajet's growth to become fiscal revenue and provincial jobs, not just traffic figures.