Priya Karnani on stage at Routes Americas 2026.
Dominican Republic-based Arajet plans to expand its presence in the U.S. market and is exploring airline partnerships as it seeks to strengthen its role as a connecting bridge between North and Latin America.
Speaking at Routes Americas 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, Priya Karnani, the airline’s vice president of network development and scheduling, told Routes the carrier continues to see strong potential in the U.S. market following last year’s open skies agreement between the U.S. and the Dominican Republic.
Arajet entered the U.S. market last April after the bilateral agreement removed longstanding restrictions on market access. Since then, the airline has built a small but growing network linking the Dominican Republic with major U.S. gateways including Miami and Newark Liberty, while also launching service to Chicago O’Hare.
The airline initially launched services expecting to rely heavily on traffic flows connecting through its Dominican hubs. However, Karnani acknowledged that establishing a new brand in a mature market takes time.
“As any airline which is new to America, there is a maturity period that does take some time,” she said. “A lot of people still don’t know about Arajet.”
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However, Arajet’s strategy is to use Santo Domingo and Punta Cana as transfer points linking cities across North America, the Caribbean and South America—mirroring the connecting model used by carriers such as Copa Airlines in Panama.
Karnani said transfer traffic has become increasingly important as the network grows. “When we add each destination, we’re not just creating direct service between where we are and the rest of the countries,” she says. “We’re connecting a lot of travelers that didn’t have an option or had a complicated option to fly to some other end destinations.”
Arajet is also examining potential expansion deeper into the U.S. once additional aircraft arrive. “Yes, we are looking to new destinations,” Karnani said when asked about further U.S. growth, including possible West Coast services. “We’re just waiting for the fleet.”
The airline currently operates 13 Boeing 737-8s and expects to end 2026 with about 17 aircraft.
Alongside the planned network expansion, Arajet is also evaluating potential partnerships with airlines in North America to broaden its reach.
“We are constantly talking to different airlines in the northern region,” Karnani said. “It’s just a matter of understanding which is the right partner for us.”
She said that discussions have focused on determining the most suitable form of cooperation, whether through interline agreements, codeshares or other commercial partnerships.
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