✈️ Punta Cana: A Not-So-Quiet Off-Season — 948 Movements in Nearly 90 Days, Up 15.2%
The Caribbean resort hub has maintained solid growth momentum during the traditional off-season. Avi-Go data shows that Punta Cana (MDPC) in the Dominican Republic recorded 948 business jet movements over the past 90 days (May 12 to August 10, 2026), up 15.2% year-on-year from 823 movements in the same period last year. Structurally, departures outpaced arrivals — takeoffs rose from 412 to 500 movements (up 21.4%), while landings increased from 411 to 448 movements (up 9.0%). Source markets were highly concentrated in North America and the near Caribbean: the United States led with 171 movements and the domestic Dominican Republic with 110, together accounting for roughly 70.6% of the Top 10, followed by Puerto Rico with 31 and the Bahamas with 24 movements.
Impact: The high concentration of source markets means MDPC is heavily dependent on North American point-to-point traffic. If U.S. departure demand fluctuates, overall activity will come under sensitive pressure accordingly. The continued faster growth of departures over arrivals reflects rising pressure on outbound repositioning and downstream flight connections on the island departure side.
Recommendation: Local FBOs and ground handling teams can leverage the arrival rhythms of the two main source markets — the U.S. and the Dominican Republic — to prioritize managing parking slots and refueling coordination during peak island-departure hours. The growth trends of short-haul near-region traffic from Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and elsewhere are worth continued tracking, to assess whether demand is diversifying across multiple points.