The company Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas will begin to operate in the Dominican Republic and will do so with high flying. For the first time in history, it will connect Santiago de los Caballeros with Europe, specifically with Madrid, and – incidentally – will open an important window to the Cibao.
It has been calculated that a high proportion, perhaps around 50%, of Dominicans residing in Spain are from Cibaeños, and the fact that they can leave and arrive through an airport terminal in that area places them in a comfortable lane. This is how Julio Martínez Sola, executive vice president of Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas, sees it when he addresses the issue during a visit to the director of the newspaper elCaribe, Nelson Rodríguez.
He explained that this private Spanish company based in Madrid began operations in 2015 and currently has six aircraft, all large, models 330 and 340.
The frequency of flights to Santiago will be 4 in the month of December of this year 2022, when that route will take off, and as these flights develop, it will be studied to maintain them at least once a week throughout year. “We have seen that it is an opportunity and we are going to be the first, like Plus Ultra, to arrive in Santiago,” said Martínez Sola. And he thanked the president of the Board of Directors of the Cibao International Airport, as well as Elpidio Núñez for making it possible for the operations to take place.
“It had always been thought of putting a direct flight to Santiago, but it had never been carried out, but we have reached an agreement and, God willing, in December our flights will land at the Santiago Airport,” reported Martínez Sola, with a tone of satisfaction and with the accent that usually characterizes people from Spain. Cibao International Airport is a company in the transportation sector, organized to function as a Limited Company, governed by Decree 185-000, which authorizes its operations and international aviation agreements. It was founded on January 16, 2000.
Its mission is to create well-being by connecting the country with the rest of the world, optimizing and innovating support services for air transport, maintaining sustainable and profitable growth.
“As an airline we are happy,” said the vice president of the airline. Before the flights through Santiago begin, the company will be flying -from the first of July- to Santo Domingo with 4 weekly frequencies and will also begin to fly to Samaná, thanks to an alliance reached with Grupo Piñeiro, of the Bahía Príncipe hotel chain, for flights to that geographical point every Sunday.
An important element cited by the vice president is that the flights that previously existed from Lisbon to Samaná were only made in summer (July, August and September), which is the high season in Europe. In collaboration with Bahía Príncipe, from September Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas will start flying every Sunday of the year from Madrid. “It will be an important issue,” he assured.
trust is key
The settlement of the company on Dominican soil has three readings and positive conclusions, or more, according to the conversation held yesterday. The first is that commercial aviation continues to expand in the Dominican Republic, that investors continue to trust the country to place their capital, that legal certainty is guaranteed and that competition, in this case favorable to air service users, continues to grow. course.
Ultra Plus has high optimism in the development and strengthening of the Dominican economy. An optimism that is largely based on the experience seen from the good management of the country in a context as challenging as the current one and the recovery it achieved in the midst of a pandemic that is not yet over.
What happens in Santiago becomes a historical fact of the country
Julio Martínez Sola was accompanied at the meeting in the Caribbean by the Dominican Elpidio Núñez, from Dominicana Tours, who has lived in Spain for 35 years and is the main seller of air seats to Santo Domingo (the main seller of all the airlines that fly directly to Santo Domingo); Roberto Roselli, CEO or general director of the company Ultra Plus, who has come for a presentation that the company will make today at the Intercontinental Hotel in the National District, to which the main Dominican agencies and wholesalers are invited and convened, and Artur Cabré, president of Varallo Comercial.
“It is noted that the effort of the President of the Government at the level of tourism has stimulated and moved the interest of companies. And in our case, the interest of bringing Santiago closer to the old world. We fulfilled a dream of all Santiago and Cibaeños to bring that region much closer to Europe. It was something that was wanted and that we understood that it was time. The truth is that it is a historical fact, because never before in history had the province come close to the old world. It had always been via Santo Domingo. Very centralized”, explained in another part of the dialogue Mr. Elpidio Núñez, originally from La Vega.
“The time has come for both Spaniards and Dominicans in Spain and Europe to have a more affordable way to get to Cibao,” said Núñez.
