Punta Cana.- In a ceremony headed by President Luis Abinader and with the presence of the main authorities of the aeronautical sector and tourism leaders, the Puntacana Group inaugurated the new terminal of its international airport, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the modest terminal with a dirt runway that launched the great tourist development in the Eastern region of the Dominican Republic.
In delivering the keynote speech, Frank Elías Rainieri, president and Ceo of Grupo Puntacana, said that Punta Cana Airport has maintained its commitment to innovation, which has allowed it to be one of the best airports in Latin America, with constant growth.
“Today, 40 years after our beginnings, and with more than 120 million passengers, Punta Cana Airport is presented as a model of sustainable development that allows us to take on new investments, staying at the forefront and ahead of the growth curve of the tourism sector,” said Frank Elías, accompanied by his father Frank Rainieri. his mother Haidee Kuret de Rainieri and President Abinader, who was in charge of the symbolic cutting of the ribbon.
The general director of the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation, Idac, Héctor Porcella, shared a brief video message where he defined the new terminal of the Punta Cana International Airport as one of the great events of the country’s aeronautical sector in the 21st century.
“I am talking about the busiest airport in the Dominican Republic and the one with the highest connectivity in the Caribbean, linking 75 cities and 34 countries around the globe,” said Porcella, noting that it has also been recognized on several occasions as the best airport in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“I allow myself, on behalf of Idac and the entire aeronautical family of the country, to share a hug of respect and admiration to the Ranieri family, its thousands of collaborators and all those who, in some other way, have made possible the miracle of making the Dominican Republic the first tourist destination in the Caribbean,” Porcella stressed.
The event was attended by the Minister of Tourism, David Collado; the administrative minister, on leave, José Ignacio Paliza; the president of Asonahores, David Llibre; Monsignor Jesús Castro, Bishop of the Diocese of Altagracia; and various tourism and civil aviation authorities of the country.
The expansion of Terminal B of the Punta Cana Airport had an investment of more than 90 million dollars and will be able to mobilize 5 thousand passengers per hour and 4million passengers per year. This project will have an area of about 35 thousand square meters and has seven boarding gates and seven air bridges.
It is projected that, with this addition of Terminal B, the airport will exceed 11 million passengers annually, allowing it to meet the increase in demand expected in the area of 14 thousand new hotel rooms in the coming years.
