SANTO DOMINGO.- Tourism minister Felix Jimenez said the new airline Air Dominicana’s first flight will take off from Las Americas Airport on May 2, with president Leonel Fernandez in the inaugural flight, scheduled to cross part of the country’s territory.

“The airplane comes from Majorca, Spain and will arrive next week for test flights and will take off at 10 a.m. on the 2nd from Las Americas towards a nearby destination, so the President can go and return within two-and-a-half or three hours,” he said, and that to carry out this historical flight media directors and tourism industry leaders, among others have also been invited.

Jiménez said 70 percent of Air Dominicana’s shares are privately held, and the remaining 30 percent belong to the Dominican State.

He said 14 of the new carrier’s 16 pilots are Dominicans, who’ve been trained in Miami’s Panam Academy.

According to Spanish newspaper Terra, the carrier’s routed is Punta Cana (east)-Colombia-Venezuela, using a Boeing B737.

Source: DominicanToday.com