US OKs flight operations by major Dominican airline

Santo Domingo.- The US Transportation Dept. (DOT) on Tuesdayannounced the approval for of of Dominican Republic’s biggest airlines, Pawa Dominicanato start flights to US soil, a key step to open the first routes to that nation.

The airline said it plans flights to San Juan and Miami inthe coming months, once the approval process with the Federal AviationAdministration (FAA) and the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA)concludes.

Pawa Dominicana called its expanded operations to the US animportant step in its business model based on the concept of hub.

“The airline’s commercial strategy has been designed tooperate as a hub, or the transport of passengers traveling between differentCaribbean destinations, so it is essential to include destinations with largepassenger flow, such as Puerto Rico and Miami, to ensure connectivity in theregion,” the carrier said.

It said the opening to the destinations will spur connectionsbetween North America and the Caribbean, through the Dominican Republic, which leadsto a multi-destination tourism model that benefits the entire Caribbean.