Cibao International Airport

Cibao International Airport (Aeropuerto Internacional del Cibao), also known as Santiago Airport, is located in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic's second-largest city. It is the country's third-busiest airport by passenger traffic and aircraft movements, after Punta Cana International Airport and Las Américas International Airport. Since its inauguration, in terms of passenger traffic, Cibao International has been projected to become one of the busiest airports in the country. Presently it has become the third-busiest airport in the Dominican Republic, only being surpassed by the airports of Punta Cana and Santo Domingo. The airport served more than 1,900,000 passengers in 2021.

The airport is located 15 km southeast of Santiago City's center.

The air terminal mainly serves Dominicans residing in the United States, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Puerto Rico, as well as Haitians residing in the Cibao Region. Recently many tourists and missionary workers are using Cibao International as a gateway to the Dominican Republic.

JetBlue is the primary international operator, with up to twenty daily flights to New York–JFK, Newark, and Boston. The airline replaced flights from American Airlines, and some slots from other airlines flying to the United States of America.

History
Plans for the construction of the airport were first proposed in 1969. The Cibao International Airport Corporation was created on March 29, 1978, with the cooperation of José Armando Bermúdez (president), Víctor Espaillat, Manuel Arsenio Ureña, Dr. José Augusto Imbert, Mario Cáceres and Ing. Carlos S. Fondeur, who acquired the land necessary to build the new airport.

The construction of the airport began on February 15, 2000, and was finished in 2002. The airport was inaugurated on March 18, 2002, with two direct flights to San Juan operated by American Eagle.

In May 2002, Aeromar Líneas Aéreas Dominicanas made the first direct flight from Santiago to JFK Airport in New York. Later that month American Airlines and North American Airlines began direct flights to New York, Miami, and San Juan. A few months later Continental Airlines began direct flights from Newark. This was followed by direct service by JetBlue Airways and Delta Air Lines, both from New York. Aeromar initiated Santiago as its secondary hub, after Las Américas International Airport.

In 2003, Aeromar Líneas Aéreas Dominicanas stopped their flights into Santiago after the airline ceased operations.

By the end of 2005, the airport's operator began one of the biggest expansions for this airport. They expanded the customs hall and rebuilt the west and east sides of the terminal. The terminal saw the addition of a second floor. This expansion was finalized in 2006. The runway's 400 m expansion is currently in folders, but there is no scheduled date to begin or conclude this expansion yet.

In April 2008, Cibao International became the first airport in the country to eliminate fees for private planes, making it possible to increase tourism in the region.

In June 2008, Continental Airlines announced the discontinuation of their services to Santiago until September 3. Delta Air Lines announced new service to Atlanta, starting on December 20, 2008, and the resuming of the New York route on December 13, 2008.

On January 9, 2009, Spirit Airlines announced operations to Santiago from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, starting on June 21, 2009.

In 2010, the airport recovered passenger movements from the previous year, handling more than 900,000. It also became the third busiest airport by passengers in the country, having already ranked number three in aircraft operations. Also, in 2010, regular domestic routes from Santiago operated by Aerolineas Mas, Air Century, Caribair and VolAir were established. Aerolineas Mas became the strongest domestic airline in the airport and started operating Santiago's Airport as a Focus City Destination.

March 14, 2011, Aerolíneas Mas, Air Century, Vol Air and Caribair all cancelled their domestic flights. The domestic terminal was then used for private charter flights. On April 1, 2013, American Airlines stopped their direct flight to New York's JFK Airport.

In December 2019, there were plans by Frontier Airlines to operate flights from Newark, New Jersey, to Santiago. However, their plans to operate the EWR-STI route were cancelled due to airport restrictions. That route was successful, however, as JetBlue was operating direct flights on the EWR-STI route as of October 2022.

Up until January 2020, the airport operated on private land which wasn't paid to the original owners; the current administration was plagued with multiple lawsuits, with the lower courts siding with the landowners. The case is currently in the Supreme Court.

Infrastructure
The Cibao International Airport infrastructure consists of the main international terminal, a domestic terminal and a cargo terminal. The international terminal is the most utilized and receives most of the flights operating to and from Cibao International Airport and it has modern installations to make easier the check-in, boarding and baggage claim processes.

The airport's owners are planning to expand the runway and the construction of the new taxiway next to the runway by the next year.

Runway and taxiways
Runway 11/29

The runway length is 2,620 m, which can support all types of passenger airliners. The airport's operators are discussing the expansion of the runway to allow larger aircraft for long-haul flights from Europe.

Taxiways

Cibao International Airport's taxiways are composed by two exits E-1 and E-2; E-1 is located on the west side of Runway 11/29, next to the direction 11 of that runway. E-2 is located in the east side of the runway, next to direction 29 of the runway.

Runway lighting

Airport expansion
The Cibao International Airport is currently under renovation. The works include the extension of the aircraft movement and parking platform, amplification of the runway by about 380 meters to accommodate aircraft with greater capacity and range. In addition, it announced important improvements to the passenger terminal, enhancing its comfort and capacity, including new access roads. The Cibao International Airport technical team estimates that the renovation process will be finished in 2026.

The design work was carried out by Luis Vidal + Architects, and it will be built under the direction of the Airport's technical team. In the remodeling, $300 million will be invested with the aim of doubling the capacity of the terminal, from where two million people are transferred each year. In addition, it will serve as cargo transport to more than 25 million pounds annually.

This new terminal will have sufficient capacity to meet current and future demand over the next twenty years, offering an optimum level of service for all its users.

International terminal
The airport's main terminal (international) has six gates (B1-B6). Five of these gates provide boarding docks (B1-B2/B4-B6). It is located between the domestic terminal and the cargo terminal. It has all of the facilities of a modern airport.

Future expansion of this airport is being discussed which would include additional gates and baggage handling areas as well as expanding the taxiway. Recently gates B1 and B2 received boarding docks leaving gate B3 for smaller aircraft. JetBlue Airways is currently the largest carrier at the airport.

Domestic terminal
The airport's domestic terminal, also called the General Aviation hall, has three stands (A1 to A3), and is located next to the international terminal. It was used for domestic flights and is now used for charter private flights. Aerolineas Mas was currently the major domestic airline in this Airport. The airline operated flights to Santo Domingo-JBQ and Port-au-Prince, and with plans to operate regularly to Punta Cana, Aerolineas Mas had made of this airport its Focus City. Air Century ceased operations on regular domestic flights from/to Santo Domingo-JBQ, Punta Cana and Puerto Plata, operating all their flights through the Domestic Terminal. All domestic flights are no longer available at this Dominican airport. The international air terminal is the only terminal in use.

Military
This airport also served as the northern air base for the Dominican Air Force, however, mainly as a support facility. Presently there are no military aircraft stationed at this airport.

Incidents and accidents

 * February 7, 2008, A Caribair flight crashed close to La Romana, when its engines stopped. There were no fatalities, but the pilot had some injuries. The aircraft was a Britten Norman Islander BN-2A, registered as HI-653CA, and had departed on a flight to Punta Cana International Airport via La Romana International Airport at 6 pm.