Four years after its first flight, Arajet has put numbers to what it calls the "Arajet Effect": since the Dominican low-cost carrier launched in September 2022, passenger traffic between the Dominican Republic and the Latin American markets it serves has jumped from about 1.3 million travellers a year to a projected 3.2 million by the end of 2026 — a rise of roughly 143%.
The airline's argument is that cheap new routes don't just steal passengers from rivals; they grow the whole market. Colombia is the clearest example, with annual traffic climbing from 729,000 in 2022 to a projected 1.3 million in 2026. Argentina has gone from a modest 71,000 to a projected 425,000, and Peru from 221,000 to more than 563,000. Mexico, Brazil and Chile are trending the same way. In the twelve months to September 2026, Arajet itself carried over 1.8 million passengers, up 58% year on year.
There's a bigger plan behind the numbers. Founder and CEO Víctor Pacheco wants the Dominican Republic to become a genuine hub for the Americas, with a network of more than 35 destinations across 20-plus countries funnelled through Santo Domingo and Punta Cana. The fleet is set to reach 25 aircraft by 2027, when the airline expects to carry over 3 million passengers and overtake rivals to become the number-two carrier serving the country — it's currently third. It also became the first Dominican airline admitted to IATA this past year.
The growth is being staffed at home, too: Arajet now employs over 1,000 people directly, every one of its cabin crew is Dominican, and the number of Dominican pilots rose 69% in a year.
For travellers, the takeaway is simple. If you've been pricing a Caribbean break and finding flights into Punta Cana or Santo Domingo expensive from South America, competition has changed the maths. Routes like Buenos Aires–Santo Domingo that barely existed three years ago now move hundreds of thousands of people annually, and fares across the market have been forced down as Arajet pushed capacity in. It also works in reverse: Dominicans are travelling abroad in far greater numbers, which keeps frequency high and prices competitive year-round. Add in the country's existing appeal — Punta Cana's beaches, the Zona Colonial in Santo Domingo, and easy domestic hops between the two hubs — and a Latin America-plus-Caribbean combo trip is now easier to book than ever. Watch this space as the network widens through 2027.
