A plane is silhouetted as it takes off from Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C., on May 13, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
MONTREAL – Arajet, a discount airline based in the Dominican Republic, says it will launch flights between that country and Toronto and Montreal this fall.
The announcement by the year-old carrier marks the latest entrant to an already crowded field of low-cost airlines, and comes two weeks after U.S. budget carrier Breeze Airways made a pitch to Quebecers bound for Florida.
Unlike many low-price players, Arajet CEO Victor Pacheco says his will bank on a hub-and-spoke model that connects passengers from far-flung airports via the airline’s hub of Santo Domingo, his home country’s capital.
As proof, he says well over half of the 10,000-plus Arajet tickets sold to Canadians so far are for other destinations in the Caribbean and Central and South America, to be reached via connecting flights from the Dominican Republic.
Though no other airlines fly direct between that country and Canada, Air Canada, United Airlines and American Airlines all touch down there regularly, while rapidly expanding discount carriers such as Flair Airlines and Lynx Air try to woo Canadians with cheap flights to an array of sunny destinations.
Backed by majority investor Bain Capital, the 10-aircraft Arajet will launch direct routes to Santo Domingo from Toronto and Montreal on Oct. 24 and Nov. 7, respectively, with one-way trips starting at $98.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2023.
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