Arajet doubles down on MAX 8
February 24, 2025
On 23 February 2025, BOC Aviation announced that it had purchased five Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, powered by CFM LEAP-1B engines, which it will place with the Dominican Republic’s flag carrier Arajet on long-term lease. BOC Aviation CEO Steven Townend said that the aircraft will be delivered in 2026 and 2027 as part of Arajet’s fleet expansion strategy, while Arajet CEO Victor Pacheco said that they would form a key element in strengthening the airline’s regional presence.
Arajet’s fleet is currently made up of ten Boeing B737-8s. These will be augmented by the five aircraft it will receive from BOC, and by 17 more on order with Boeing.
What would become Arajet Airlines began life as Dominican Wings which received its air operator’s certificate from the Dominican Republic’s civil aviation authority (the Junta de Aviación Civil) in late 2014. Dominican Wings offered charter flights between the Dominican Republic and Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, and Argentina, using a leased Airbus A320-200, delivered on 3 May 2015.
Dominican Wings transitioned from charter operations to scheduled ultra–low-cost flights from early 2018, and rebranded as Arajet in September 2021. The rebranded airline operated as a low-cost carrier offering flights throughout the Caribbean and the Americas – including thirty new international routes.
In December 2024, the airline announced that it had transported one million passengers during the previous year, becoming the first Dominican airline to achieve this milestone. Arajet has main operating bases at Santo Domingo and Punta Cana, and now flies to 22 destinations in Argentina, Aruba, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico and Sint Maarten.
