Q TRAVEL – The ultra-low-cost startup airline will take off from the Juan Santamaría (San José) international airport headed for Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, on October 8.
The airline is offering promotional round-trip flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays for only US$149.
That price also includes taxes.
The screen capture of the airline’s website indicates the fare leaving SJO on October 13 and returning the next day is only US$1 each way, plus US$147 in taxes.
That fare is the “smart”, “comfort” and “extra” cost more, US$331.81 and US$437.21, respectively, for travelers who want more of the airline’s services included in the fare such as seat selection, carry-on, online check-in, priority access and change in flights, among others
Among the other destinations to and from Santo Domingo are Colombia (Barranquilla, Cali and Cartagena), Mexico (Mexico City and Monterrey and Cancun), El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru and San Martín, Aruba and Curaçao in the Caribbean.
Víctor Pacheco, president of Arajet, affirmed that the airline will mark the “rebirth of Dominican aviation”; they project to move seven million passengers annually in the next five years.
“We promised low fares and we are announcing our trademark low fares never seen before in our country,” said Pacheco. “This is the first step in the process to build the first strategic connecting hub in the Caribbean that will foster the Americas connectivity at the lowest fares. Additionally, starting in September we are kicking-off our mission to convert Las Americas International Airport into a premier Latin-American Air Hub,” he added.
In October, Arajet will add flights to Toronto and Montreal in Canada; Medellin and Bogota in Colombia; San Jose in Costa Rica; and Kingston in Jamaica; with which it will establish a robust route network of 20 destinations in 12 countries in its first 3 months of operations. The airline also expects to add additional flights to the United States in the near future.
Minimal competition
Like many ultra-low-cost airlines, which prioritize unserved routes, 11 of Arajet’s 13 initial routes will not have any head-to-head competition.
Booking data shows that, of the unserved routes, the largest is San Jose, Costa Rica.
