The Minister of Tourism of the Dominican Republic, David Collado, and the Undersecretary of State of the United States, José W. Fernández, closed the negotiations of the open skies treaty between both countries and announced that the official signing will take place in the near future in a formal ceremony headed by President Luis Abinader at the Dominican National Palace.
The closing ceremony took place at the Secretary of State’s office in the American capital, and with this work begins to bring the agreement into full operation after more than 25 years of negotiations.
Minister Collado highlighted that this is an achievement for the country’s air connectivity that will allow national airlines to fly to any destination in the United States and vice versa for North American airlines, while increasing the country’s competitiveness, which should translate on cheaper flights between both nations.
“Today we have closed this agreement thanks to the vision and commitment of President Luis Abinader and the entire tourism cabinet that has worked to ensure that the country is increasingly better connected by air, and I am proud to announce that this was achieved with the support of all the country’s airports,” Collado explained.
DR and United States close open skies agreement
He added, “The Dominican Republic was one of the few countries that did not have an open skies agreement with the United States, and this signing will have an impact on Dominicans being able to come to their country at more competitive prices, as well as increasing the arrival of tourists from the United States to our country.”
For his part, Undersecretary Fernández said that “this agreement strengthens our bilateral relations and will reinforce our strong economic ties” and praised the leadership of the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean and Central America.
The American official said that “this agreement goes beyond a relationship, this agreement is pro-growth, pro-competition and pro-consumer and will facilitate more trade, economic exchange between both nations, more tourists, exchange students, more opportunities for airlines, travel companies and customers.”
Collado thanked the support of Dominican airlines for this to be achieved, as well as the Punta Cana Airport, Cibao Airport, Aerodom and important industry players such as Antonio Yapor and Monika Infante, as well as the director of civil aviation Héctor Porcella , the president of the Aviation Board José Marte Piantini and the airport director Víctor Pichardo.
He also highlighted the work of the negotiating team made up of Vice Minister Patricia Mejía, lawyers Práxedes Joaquín Castillo and Leonel Melo and the legal consultant for Tourism, Natashú Domínguez.
The representatives of the United States government highlighted the work carried out by the current administration headed by President Abinader to achieve the closure of this agreement, since for the Americans it is a state policy to establish open skies with their commercial partners in order to guarantee greater competitiveness, better antitrust practices and greater opening of the skies for airlines.
The open skies agreement will now go through a routine administrative phase, like any binational treaty, which must also be ratified by the Dominican Congress.
Source: The Day
