The Dominican startup Arajet has recently received its third and fourth leased Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. Arajet is in the final steps towards launching operations this year and becoming the newest ultra-low-cost carrier in the Caribbean.

Arajet’s new planes

On Friday, Arajet announced it had received two new Boeing 737 MAX jetliners leased from Griffin Global Asset Management. Now the Dominican startup has a fleet of four MAX-8 units with a capacity to carry 189 passengers in a single cabin configuration each.

Arajet baptized these airplanes as “Jaragua” and “Ojos Indígenas,” two names that honor the Dominican Republic’s main protected areas. The airline added,

“Thus, we reaffirm our compromise with protecting the environment and natural resources with a fleet of aircraft that allow us to save in fuel, maintenance, and operational costs, passing these savings to our passengers and, simultaneously, reducing the noise pollution.”

The registration of Arajet’s new planes are HI1026, HI1027, HI1081, and HI1082. They are all currently stored at Santo Domingo Las Américas International Airport (SDQ) in the Dominican Republic. Arajet has not yet launched its commercial service but expects to do so in 2022.

Four Arajet Boeing 737 MAX jetliners parked in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic.
Newcomer Arajet is expected to start operations imminently from its base at Santo Domingo - Las Américas airport. Photo: Arajet

Arajet’s plans

The Dominican airline expects to become the first proper ultra-low-cost carrier in the Caribbean region. Moreover, it expects to do so by employing a Boeing 737 MAX fleet. Earlier this year, Arajet placed an order for 20 MAX units and options for 15 additional jets. These planes will be delivered by 2024.

In the meantime, Arajet signed a contract to lease up to 11 MAX aircraft between 2022 and 2023. The airline will receive five this year and six the next one.

Overall, the plan of Arajet is to have around 46 MAX aircraft in the mid-future. It would become the fifth MAX airline in the Latin American region (and the third one in the Caribbean region, after Caribbean Airlines and Cayman Airways). In Latin America, the other MAX operators are Brazil’s GOL, Argentina’s Aerolíneas Argentinas, Mexico’s Aeromexico, and Panama’s Copa Airlines.

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With this fleet, Arajet expects to launch international service shortly, launching new routes throughout the region. Some of the destinations eyed by the airline are Barranquilla and Cartagena (Colombia); Cancun, Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey (Mexico); Panama City (Panama); Kingston and Montego Bay (Jamaica), Nassau (the Bahamas); New York, St-Petersburg, and Orlando (US), among others.

A render of Arajet's Boeing 737 MAX 8.
Photo: Boeing

According to local media outlets, Arajet will announce its first destinations within the next month. In June, the airline received its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the Civil Aviation Dominican Institute (IDAC).

During the AOC delivery, Héctor Porcella, general interim director of IDAC, said,

“From this moment on, Arajet is formally authorized to carry out scheduled and non-scheduled air operations (charter flights), air cargo, and mail. Likewise, this certification empowers this airline to formalize negotiations with any other airline, from anywhere in the world, always under the supervision of the civil aviation authorities involved.”

Simple Flying spoke with Arajet’s CEO, Víctor Pacheco, in May about the airline’s inception and future plans. You can read what he told us here.