Having made its interest in serving the Dominican Republic official, AirTran will seek to capture a mix of leisure, VFR and ethnic demand.
With its main bases at Atlanta, Orlando and Baltimore, AirTran operates B717 and B737-700 aircraft.
September schedules show that there are 285 weekly flights between the Dominican Republic and the US.
The table below provides an overview of the market according to seat capacity and market share:
|
Carrier |
Weekly Seats |
Market Share |
|
JetBlue |
16,892 |
41% |
|
American Airlines |
14,391 |
35% |
|
Delta Air Lines |
2,823 |
7% |
|
Continental Airlines |
2,098 |
7% |
|
Spirit |
1,753 |
4% |
|
US Airways |
1,472 |
4% |
|
USA 3000 |
876 |
1% |
|
LAN Airlines |
684 |
0.5% |
|
PAN AM Dominica |
76 |
0.5% |
|
Total |
40,885 |
100% |
Source: Flightbase 14-20 September 2010
The leading scheduled markets in the Dominican Republic from the US are summarised below:
|
Origin |
Weekly Seats |
Operating carriers |
|
Santa Domingo |
21,061 |
American Airlines, JetBlue, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines, PanAm Dominica |
|
Santiago Cibai |
9,619 |
American Airlines, JetBlue, Delta, Spirit Airlines |
|
Punta Cana |
7,281 |
American Airlines, JetBlue, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, LAN, USA3000, US Airways |
|
Puerto Plata |
2,530 |
American Airlines, JetBlue, Continental Airlines |
|
La Romana |
394 |
American Airlines |
JetBlue: The Leading Carrier in the Dominican Republic
JetBlue and American Airlines dominate the market with a 76% combined share of all seats operated. Low-cost carrier JetBlue is currently the leading carrier in the market.
JetBlue now operates to four points in the Dominican Republic: Puerto Plata (from JFK), Punta Cana (from Boston and New York JFK), Santa Domingo (from Boston, Fort Lauderdale, JFK and Orlando) and from Santa Domingo to San Juan in Puerto Rico.
In 2005, American Airlines had a 70% share of all seats operated, and jetBlue just a 2% share as its only route at the time was a Santiago-JFK service. However with American Eagle pulling capacity out of the market in 2008, JetBlue has seized the chance to take its market share. In 2005, American Airlines operated 28,421 weekly seats: nearly double the capacity it has now.
AirTran naturally believes that it will be able to make the Dominican Republic work. In recent years, while the US carriers have struggled in the tough domestic market, slashing capacity and yield, the Caribbean has proved robust and has continued to perform well.
The Dominican Republic has proven to be a strong market for carriers looking to grow the market. With significant ethnic and VFR flown traffic particularly to markets such as Puerto Plata and Samana, low-cost carriers have been able to stimulate traffic with their low fares. These routes typically carry strong ancillary revenues with baggage check-in a lot higher than at the Mexican resorts. AirTran charges $15 per checked bag.
And passenger growth continues between the US and the Dominican Republic. Between April 2007 and 2008, IATA BSP data shows that over 3.7 million passengers flew between the two regions, while between 2009 and 2010 the number was 4.2 million.
WHERE MIGHT AIRTRAN START IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC?
Although AirTran has applied to serve the Dominican Republic from any point in the US, it is likely to follow its strategy in Mexico, where it serves the mass outbound leisure market of Cancun from its two largest bases: Atlanta and Baltimore.
As a starting point, from these two main bases, AirTran could look to serve Punta Cana or Santa Domingo, which account for 75% of all flights in the Dominican Republic.
From Atlanta it would face competition into Punta Cana and Santa Domingo from Delta, but will compete for market share on price. From Baltimore, USA3000 serves Punta Cana, which is essentially tour operator driven and AirTran will view this as an opportunity, while Santa Domingo to Baltimore is currently unserved and has seen over 6,000 passengers fly the route indirectly.
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