Author: Robert W. Thomas
chargé d’affaires
US Embassy in Santo Domingo
If you’re looking to travel to the United States, you’ve probably noticed that airfares have risen significantly over the past few months. We all know the usual culprits behind this phenomenon: rising demand, rising fuel costs and continued economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. But there’s one explanation you might not have come across: lack of competition. Travel here is more expensive because the Dominican Republic still does not have a modern “Open Skies” aviation agreement with the United States. This means less choice for travelers and restrictions on competition between airlines will cost you more every time you buy a plane ticket.
The United States seeks to have open aviation relations with its partners, and whenever possible, establishes agreements that promote competition that allow airlines to offer a range of services tailored to the needs of their passengers without restrictions on the number of flights or destinations. Under the Open Skies Agreement, airlines can provide consumers with more affordable, convenient and efficient air services by minimizing restrictions on airline decisions on routes, number of flights and inter-airline partnerships. These modern aviation agreements are pro-consumer, pro-competitive and pro-development arrangements that enable more international passenger and cargo flights between our two countries.
With the Open Skies Agreement with the United States, Dominican airlines would no longer have restrictions on where they could fly in the United States, and Dominican travelers would be able to enjoy new flight options, lower fares and better service among more airlines in the market. This flexibility would allow airlines to better respond to the market and serve the destinations that travelers are looking for. Dominican travelers could fly non-stop to more US destinations outside of the typical routes to New York and Florida, including lesser known US cities that are also home to large Dominican communities. Likewise, U.S. travelers could benefit from more direct options to the Dominican Republic instead of having to worry about lengthy connections at other airports and spend more time with family and enjoy the country’s beauty—and increase tourism revenue here in Dominican Republic.
Since 1992, the United States has entered into Open Skies agreements with more than 130 partners, including countries as small and large as the Bahamas, Curacao, India, Japan, and Spain, to name a few. Likewise, the Dominican Republic has signed similar aviation agreements with Panama, Brazil and the Netherlands. These agreements provide countless benefits. They encourage the creation of high-quality jobs and economic growth, as well as promote increased travel and trade. According to a 2016 study by the Brookings Institution, open skies agreements generated $4 billion in annual profits for travelers and an average drop in fares of 15 percent. It is high time that Dominicans enjoy the same benefits that can be achieved through a modern aviation agreement with the United States. The time has come for our countries to finalize such an agreement.
After several years of stalling, we may now have the opportunity to conclude an open skies agreement. President Abinader publicly announced his commitment to finalize the negotiations and showed his readiness to open the aviation sector to competition, even in relation to interests. An innovative new national airline has announced plans to launch new, low-cost services to a number of US destinations – contingent, it says, on the conclusion of an Open Skies agreement between our two countries – a service that the United States would welcome as a positive outcome of Open Skies .
