Punta Cana, La Altagracia. - The expansion of Terminal B at Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ) began operations on Friday, June 30, with the reception of its first flight, which arrived with 189 passengers aboard American Airlines flight 2925 from Charlotte, United States.
To date, with only 5 days of opening, it has received 60 flights and transported 17,923 passengers, initially operating with airlines from North America and with plans to expand to connectivity routes in Latin America and Europe.
"The expansion of Terminal B is one of our most anticipated expansion projects this year, being an example in the aviation world, as there are few terminals in Latin America with this infrastructure design. Its quality can be compared to any airport in the world. We project that with this addition, the airport will exceed 11 million passengers annually," said Frank Elías Rainieri, President and CEO of Grupo Puntacana.
The expansion of Terminal B at Punta Cana International Airport has an investment of over $90 million and allows for the transportation of 5,000 passengers per hour and 4 million passengers per year. This project will cover an area of approximately 35,000 m² and has seven boarding gates and seven air bridges. The expansion was developed by local architects and engineers.
"As a company, we work to offer unique experiences in our facilities. We hope that our visitors enjoy this terminal. We have high expectations for this expansion, which raises the standards of our airport internationally, because we believe in service, innovation, and imagination," Rainieri emphasized.
Terminal B is one of the most modern airport terminals in the region, with flagship amenities and services such as a VIP Lounge with a pool and an impressive view of the runway, Fast Track service, and a modern food truck area with a wide variety of gastronomy.
In addition, it features self-flight registration kiosks, e-gate immigration, 10 state-of-the-art body scanners, 8 tomographic machines, and 4 automated machines, making it one of the most modernly equipped in all of Latin America.
Airport Technology
Some of its new technological implementations include smart path - biometrics for agent-less check-in procedures, self-service kiosks, and mobile technology for quick and secure biometric enrollment/registration, self-service baggage dispatch with biometric verification, single or double electronic self-boarding gates, access control to secure areas, and automated border control.
In addition, there are new self-check-in kiosks with baggage label printing, an Explosive Detection System (EDS) at the security checkpoint and baggage carousel, new security screens, auto-gates, self-service boarding, ABC kiosks in the arrival immigration area, and soon the self-service bag drop will be implemented.
About Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ)
Inaugurated in 1983, it is the first privately-owned commercial international airport in the world, the busiest airport in the Dominican Republic, and the most connected airport in the Caribbean, serving 64 cities and 26 countries worldwide, transporting eight million passengers per year.
It has two runways, 27 boarding gates, 30 aircraft parking spots, and three VIP lounges. Additionally, it has its own Recycling and Incineration Center, where 60% of the generated waste is recycled.
Punta Cana International Airport achieved a record of 8 million passenger movements, becoming the first airport in the country to reach this figure, demonstrating the growth of the Dominican tourism industry.
