During the 34th iteration of Dominican Week hosted in Washington D.C., the top official of the Dominican Republic’s civil aviation regulator has outlined the country’s sweeping multi-year initiative to upgrade its national air transportation infrastructure, with major technology deployments already completed and long-term expansion projects mapped out through the end of the decade.
Igor Rodríguez Durán, Director General of the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation (IDAC), detailed the progress of the modernization push to attendees, noting that over the past three years alone, the Dominican civil aviation system has handled 585,363 total air operations and moved more than 50 million passenger arrivals and departures. These volumes reflect the growing importance of the Dominican Republic as a top Caribbean tourism and trade hub, making infrastructure upgrades a critical priority for sustained economic growth.
Among the most significant completed upgrades is a national network of three advanced weather surveillance radars, two of which are high-performance C-band Doppler systems that were brought online in less than 12 months. The radars are strategically positioned across the country: one serves the major tourist corridor centered on Punta Cana, a second is sited on Isabel de Torres Hill overlooking Puerto Plata, and the third is based at the Dominican Aeronautical Complex in the national capital region.
Real-time weather data collected by the new radar network delivers immediate benefits to multiple stakeholders: it gives pilots and air traffic controllers actionable insight to avoid hazardous weather conditions, while data is also openly shared with the Dominican Institute of Meteorology (Indomet) and the Dominican Air Force to strengthen national weather monitoring capabilities and reduce risk for all air operations across the country.
Another completed infrastructure improvement is the fully reconstructed control tower at San Isidro Air Base. The new facility replaces an outdated control structure that dated back to 1953, and is outfitted with cutting-edge communications and navigation tools, plus redundant backup power systems. The upgrade turns the San Isidro tower into a fully functional alternate operations hub that can take over air traffic control duties if a disruptive incident impacts nearby Las Américas International Airport, the country’s busiest international gateway.
Looking ahead, IDAC has locked in plans for several major technology upgrades at the country’s largest airports over the next three years. By February 2027, Cibao International Airport will receive a new integrated air surveillance system that combines primary and secondary radar technology with ADS-B, the modern global standard for automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast tracking. An identical system will replace the 35-year-old primary radar currently in use at Gregorio Luperón International Airport in Puerto Plata, bringing that facility’s infrastructure into line with modern global safety standards.
Two of the country’s busiest airports, Punta Cana International and Las Américas International, are also slated to receive new precision approach systems and ILS (Instrument Landing System) radio aids, which will improve operational reliability during poor weather conditions and reduce flight delays and cancellations for millions of annual passengers.
IDAC has also introduced a newly designated nighttime Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flight corridor to expand access to night operations. All traffic using the corridor must adhere to strict defined coordinates, altitude limits, and pilot and aircraft certification requirements to maintain the highest safety standards for the country’s controlled airspace.
For the under-construction Cabo Rojo International Airport in Pedernales’ Oviedo municipality, Rodríguez Durán confirmed that IDAC is currently working to install all required air traffic control, navigation, communications and surveillance infrastructure needed to launch commercial operations at the new site, which will open up air access to the country’s southwestern tourist and economic corridor.
During his trip to Washington, Rodríguez Durán also held working meetings with senior officials from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to review the Dominican Republic’s progress in aligning its civil aviation standards with global best practices and strengthening bilateral cooperation on air safety.