Arajet receives third aircraft in its fleet

Dominican Republic start-up Arajet has received its third aircraft ahead of the start of the carrier’s scheduled passenger operations.

The airline welcomed its third Boeing 737 MAX 8, registered as HI1081. The leased aircraft was delivered to the airline’s hub in Las Americas International Airport (SDQ) from Boeing Field (FBI) in late June 2022.

The three-year-old aircraft first flew in April 2019. Initially, it was supposed to be leased to Russian UTair Aviation but the transaction did not go through, according to Planespotters.net data.

Arajet, on the other hand, not only received the plane, but has already put the plane to use. On July 7, 2022, it operated a special private flight, bringing the Dominican men’s national football team home from Honduras.

The air carrier’s first aircraft, also a Boeing 737 MAX on a lease, was delivered in March 2022. In total, the new ultra-low-cost carrier plans to add 20 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft to its fleet with options for 15 additional aircraft.

Arajet is led by Victor Pacheco and Mike Powell, the former chief financial officer of Wizz Air, and financially supported by Bain Capital Special Situations and Griffin Global Asset Management as well as the Dominican government and Vinci Airports.

Claiming to be the first to adopt a ULCC business model in the Caribbean market, Arajet is expected to fly from SDQ to the Caribbean islands and Central America as well as some North American destinations.