Arajet

Arajet (IATA DM, ICAO DWI) is the flag carrier of the Dominican Republic. A local team reorganized it in 2021 on the former Flycana operating certificate, and it began commercial flights on 15 September 2022 from Las Américas International Airport (SDQ) in Santo Domingo, with the first service to Barranquilla, Colombia. The head office is in the Torre Roble business center in Santo Domingo, and the two bases are Las Américas International Airport and Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ). It is one of the fastest-growing regional carriers in the Caribbean and became a full IATA member in 2026.

Arajet flies scheduled passenger service with a narrowbody jet fleet and in 2026 announced dedicated cargo operations, opening its belly capacity and new cargo products to shippers and forwarders. The network covers about 26 countries in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, with points including Miami, Newark, Boston and Chicago in the United States, Toronto in Canada, Mexico City, Monterrey and Cancún, Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Cartagena and Barranquilla in Colombia, Lima, Quito and Guayaquil, Santiago, Buenos Aires, São Paulo, and San José in Costa Rica, San Salvador, Guatemala City, plus Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Jamaica.

For a Chinese shipper, Arajet's value is as the final-leg carrier within the Caribbean and northern South America. Chinese exports to the Dominican Republic and CARICOM countries are mainly machinery and electrical products, consumer electronics, textiles and clothing, furniture and bags, auto parts, lighting and consumer goods. These cannot fly direct from China to Santo Domingo or Punta Cana; they go first on Chinese widebody freighter and belly flights to southeast US gateways, led by Miami (MIA) and supported by New York JFK/EWR, Atlanta ATL and Houston IAH, then connect on Arajet narrowbody flights from MIA, EWR and other gateways, distributing to SDQ and PUJ and onward across the regional network. Arajet opened Miami in April 2025 and Newark in June 2025, which noticeably improved frequency and connection times on the China to US to Dominican Republic chain.

The Dominican Republic is one of the largest economies in the Caribbean. Santo Domingo is the political, financial and consumer center, Punta Cana concentrates tourism and free trade zones, and the gateway ports of Caucedo and Río Haina handle most of the country's ocean trade. Shippers sending to the Dominican Republic and neighboring Caribbean countries usually put urgent, small-lot, high-value electronics spares, samples, urgent shipments and retail replenishment on air, and bulky furniture, building materials and full containers of textiles on sea. Arajet's belly capacity covers the regional distribution part of the air leg and connects at PUJ with the free trade and duty-free industrial zones. The company website is arajet.com.

In trade terms, China is one of the Dominican Republic's main sources of imports in Asia, supplying machinery and audio-visual equipment, textile materials and products, base metal articles, plastics, vehicles and parts, and optical and medical instruments. Dominican exports to China are mainly sugar, coffee, cigars, bananas and medical devices, and urgent return cargo such as cigar samples and medical components can also move back from SDQ to MIA in DM bellies and connect to China-North America widebody flights. For shippers with regular China-Dominican trade, adding DM to the regional carrier list helps plan outbound and return capacity at the quotation stage.

Arajet is one of the youngest narrowbody carriers in the Caribbean, and its value to Chinese shippers rests on four points. First, a young fleet: every aircraft is a Boeing 737 MAX 8, which burns roughly 20% less fuel than the previous 737 NG generation, needs less maintenance and posts better on-time performance than older regional operators, which matters for export replenishment chains that depend on fixed schedules. Second, two bases: SDQ serves the Santo Domingo metropolitan area and the central industrial zone, PUJ serves the Punta Cana export processing zone and the southern tourism belt, so cargo can be landed at the station closest to the final consignee and skip a second road leg. Third, dense US gateway connections: DM flies Miami twice daily (one flight each to SDQ and PUJ) and Newark daily, with arrival windows at Miami that allow same-day connection from China to North America widebody freighters. Fourth, a dedicated cargo product from 2026: alongside taking delivery of its 15th aircraft and reaching break-even, Arajet announced dedicated cargo operations, so shippers and forwarders can book through a formal cargo channel rather than relying on scattered leftover belly space.

One limitation should be stated plainly: Arajet is a narrowbody passenger carrier and its cargo moves in passenger belly holds. It operates no widebody freighter, and piece weight and dimensions are limited by the 737 MAX 8 hold. For oversize, overwidth or overweight engineering equipment and large project cargo, book the freighter sector from China to MIA first and truck from MIA to the Dominican Republic with the ground agent, or ship FCL by sea.

Arajet operates no direct service to China and has no cargo sales office or cargo terminal of its own in China. Cargo for the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean leaves major Chinese airports (Shanghai Pudong PVG, Beijing Capital PEK, Guangzhou Baiyun CAN, Shenzhen Bao'an SZX, Hong Kong HKG) for a US Southeast gateway, where DM takes it onward. The connectable gateways and indicative schedules follow. Times are local; schedules change by season and are confirmed by the carrier on the day of booking.

DM flies MIA daily (one flight each to SDQ and PUJ) and EWR daily (to SDQ); BOS, YYZ and ORD are seasonal or a few times a week. For widebody freighters arriving at MIA from China, allow at least 4 to 6 hours for the international-to-international connection, covering manifest transfer and security screening. For urgent cargo we can pre-book onward DM belly tonnage with the MIA ground agent.

Carrier conditions and the capacity request process for special cargo (dangerous goods, perishables, live animals, valuables, oversize items) are not published in a complete cargo manual. We confirm each shipment with DM cargo at booking, and the carrier's written reply governs.