New Dominican airline Arajet took delivery of its first aircraft, a 737 MAX

New Dominican airline Arajet has taken delivery of its first aircraft, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, which landed at Santo Domingo’s Las Americas airport on March 3.

The arrival of the aircraft heralds the airline’s imminent certification, amid pre-existing plans to start commercial flights this quarter.

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“The aircraft, leased from Griffin Global Asset Management, will be reconfigured from its current 185-seat layout (eight in premium and 177 in economy) to 189 seats in economy, said its founder, Victor Mendez.

Backed by U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital, Arajet will focus on the economy segment and has traffic rights to connect the Caribbean island with various points in the United States, Cuba, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, St. Maarten, Curacao, Mexico, Panama, Aruba, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti and Canada.