Espaillat Finalizes U.S.-Dominican Republic Open Skies Agreement For Dominican American Families

Today, Harlem Rep. Adriano Espaillat traveled to the Dominican Republic to attend the official signing ceremony of the landmark “Open Skies ” Aviation Agreement.

The agreement is between the United States and the Dominican Republic, respectively with the U.S. State Department and the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Tourism. 

The completion of this agreement comes following two years of negotiations, during which Rep. Espaillat served as the lead congressional voice urging the finalization of this deal. In his efforts, Rep. Espaillat led multiple congressional letters, published op-eds, and conducted multiple meetings with high-level officials to help secure the finalized deal on behalf of Dominican American families, visitors, and American tourists to the region.

“… Dominican American families, visitors, and … tourists affordable travel options …”

“Today’s Open Skies Agreement between the United States and Dominican Republic is an incredible win for Americans and Dominicans alike,” said Rep. Espaillat. “This pro-consumer agreement will provide more flight options between the U.S. and D.R., lower airline fares, increase travel, and spur economic growth in both of our great nations. Perhaps most importantly, today’s historic agreement will directly allow more Dominican American families, visitors, and American tourists affordable travel options to visit the country and their loved ones abroad. Today’s landmark agreement sends a clear message that the relationship between the United States and the Dominican Republic is stronger than ever and we will continue our collective efforts to further this alliance for many years to come.”

For years, Dominican American families have had limited availability of flight routes to and from the Dominican Republic. These challenges have been amplified by exorbitant flight prices to and from the D.R.—especially during peak travel seasons, which are often the only times when Dominican American families can fly to visit relatives and loved ones in the nation. 

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With today’s completion of a modern Open Skies Aviation Agreement, American and Dominican consumers, visitors, and tourists will be provided with lower flight prices, a wider variety of new flight options to and from more cities, and expanded service among more airlines in the market. The completion of this historic agreement will help support the tourism economy of both the United States and Dominican Republic and help spur job growth in both nations.

Representative Espaillat is the first Dominican American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and his congressional district includes Harlem, East Harlem, West Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill and the north-west Bronx. First elected to Congress in 2016, Representative Espaillat is serving his fourth term in Congress. Representative Espaillat currently serves as a member of the influential U.S. House Committee on Appropriations responsible for funding the federal government’s vital activities and serves as Ranking Member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee of the committee during the 118th Congress. He is also a member of the House Budget Committee and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), where he serves in a leadership role as the Deputy Chair as well as Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI). Rep. Espaillat is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) and serves as a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. To find out more about Rep. Espaillat, visit online at https://espaillat.house.gov/.