Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett’s dream for the development of multi-destination tourism travel within the Caribbean is now being realised with next Monday’s (November 14) inauguration of direct non-stop flights between Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.

The region’s newest airline, Arajet, will take to the skies with direct flights between Santo Domingo and Kingston as of Monday with reduced airfare and reduced travel time.

Bartlett described it as a real milestone achievement of air connectivity within the Caribbean.

He was speaking today (November 11) during a press briefing at the offices of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) in New Kingston.

The low-fare airline will reducing airfare from an average US$800 to US$252 round-trip and travel time from more than 20 hours via Miami to under two hours.

“Our people will be connected with fares as low as US$252, inclusive of taxes for a round trip. This is an enabling opportunity for both countries to be better connected,” said Victor Pacheco, president of Arajet.

Bartlett thanked Arajet’s president, for enabling the linkage with Jamaica and other Caribbean islands with an affordable and timely air service.

Mention was also made of the roles played by a number of government ministers and other interests in fulfilment of the new air service.

“The decision to enable improved connectivity between the Dominican Republic and Jamaica is part of a broader and wider strategy of integrating the Caribbean more and also of creating backward connections between Central America and South America. We have been working at bedding that market for the last 15 years,” said Bartlett.

Angie Martinez, the Dominican Republic’s ambassador to Jamaica, termed the new air service as “truly a game-changer in our bilateral relations with Jamaica”.

She said the connection between both countries was both a necessity and is a dream come true.

The ambassador believes the cheap airfare and significantly reduced travel time will result in an uptick in visitors moving between both countries, which share similar cultures.

Speaking on the Zoom platform from his office in the Dominican Republic, Pacheco said Bartlett’s vision of a multi-destination framework was correct and urged him to continue promoting this concept, while noting that it is the only way to democratise air travel.

 “I like the minister’s vision so much, I might explore setting up a base there,” Pacheco said.

He believes that the service being offered by his company will be very important for tourism growth, commercial growth and also to support entrepreneurs in the new age that the world is living in.

He said Arajet was the first company in Latin America to be launching an airline with the new, most technologically advanced 737 MAX airplanes with 40 per cent less pollution, more fuel efficiency and significantly reduced emissions of carbon monoxide.

“In the next 30 years, we’ll be in the middle of the biggest air traffic growth that the world has seen and we need to take advantage of it,” Pacheco stated.

The airline plans to launch 54 routes out of Santo Domingo and while starting in Jamaica with twice weekly flights to Kingston, the company plans to operate out of Montego Bay in short order.