Punta Cana Airport Arrivals (PUJ)

Punta Cana International Airport

Address: Carretera Aeropuerto, Punta Cana 23000, Dominican Republic
IATA airport code: PUJ
ICAO airport code: MDPC
Alias: Punta Cana International Airport
Phone: +1 809-959-2376
Web: puntacanainternationalairport.com

PUJ arrivals today

• Dominican Republic Airports
• Punta Cana Airport Departures

About Punta Cana International Airport arrivals

The airport is in private use in Punta Cana. The owners are Grupo Punta Cana who established the airport in the 1980s. Due to the high demand, the airport continued to grow. The holiday destination is extremely popular. Many tourist will have Punta Cana flight arrivals to eventually go to the places Playa Macao and Cao Cana. Travel time to these places is 25-45 min by car/taxi (35/55 USD). There are two runways and some terminals. Millions of people pass through this airport every year to enjoy a vacation on the coast of the Dominican Republic.

History Punta Cana Airport

The first Punta Cana airport arrivals took place in 1971. However, this was not yet a paved runway. The owners of the current airport, Grupo PuntaCana, built the first hotel at that time. There was no terminal or real runway yet. At that time, the area was not yet easily accessible by land. More and more sleeping places were added and it became busier and busier. You could only get there by plane. Later in the 1970’s a road was built to it. As a result, many tourists also came to the area via Las America airport in Santo Domingo. There was also an option to fly on with a small plane.

It quickly became clear that an acceptable airport had to be built. In 1974 a plan was put on the table but it was rejected by the government. It took 7 years before planning and construction could begin in 1981. The architect wanted the terminal’s appearance with Native American structures with a paradise feeling. The small airstrip had to be closed for construction and a temporary airstrip or concrete was built. Due to its simplicity, the terminal was ready after a few months. The construction of the runway took longer.

The new airstrip was 5,000 ft and the terminal had an area of 3,200 sq ft. About 100 passengers could be processed every hour. In the meantime, a control tower was built. A month after the first Punta Cana airport arrivals, the first international landing became a fact. The flight came from San Juan, Puerto Rico. There were only 20 passengers on the plane. After the construction of the airport, more and more hotels were added. The demand for a holiday in Punta Cana increased and with it larger planes from distant destinations. The first expansion had to come after a few years. The runway was extended from 5 to 7.5 thousand feet. There were also some check-in counters and a small renovation. A new radar system was installed at the control tower. In the year 1987, the first PUJ arrivals came from the US. Miami had a direct flight to Punta Cana. Slowly more airlines started flying to Punta Cana and the runway was extended again, this time to 10,170 ft.

Now the time had come when even long-haul jets could fly and land to this destination. From Europe there were flights from the UK, Belgium and Germany. Frankfurt sent a Boeing 767 from Frankfurt to Punta Cana. The first Punta Cana airport arrivals from Canada were from Montreal in 1993. More and more routes were added and a problem arose. It had to be said no until another expansion came along. This started in 1999 and a year later the surface of the terminal doubled. A taxiway was established to prevent collisions. Infrastructure also improved in the area. More hotels and shops were added. A parking lot was also made. A second terminal was opened in 2004. Seven years later, a second runway was even added, which could also land large aircraft such as the Airbus A340 or the Boeing 747. In 2014 Terminal B (International) was opened. This had jet bridges to enter the plane from the terminal.

Punta Cana Terminals

The airport even has 5 terminals, although not all of them are the same size or use.

• There is a VIP terminal
• A terminal for private flights
• A terminal for domestic flights
• Two terminals for international flights which is most important for this airport.

PUJ arrivals (with baggage reclaim) are at the ground level of the main terminal and first level is for departure and ticketing.

Passenger statistics and runways

In recent years, the traffic at the airport has doubled to 7,106,258 passengers in 2019, making it the busiest airport in the Dominican Republic. There are Punta Cana Airport arrivals on 2 different runways, each 10,171 feet long.

Airlines and destinations

There are many flights to South America, North America (Canada and U.S.), Europe and Russia. Most PUJ airport arrivals, however, come from Canada, Toronto-Pearson airport to be precise. Last year 638,141 flew this route with Air Transat, Sungwin, WestJet and Air Canada. The top 3 is completed by:

• Panama City (Copa Airlines)
• Montréal-Trudeau

Flying to Europe mainly happens to Frankfurt, Madrid, Lisbon and Paris with Air France. There are however a dozen more options in Europe.

Punta Cana arrivals from USA are usually from the following cities:

• New York JFK
• Chicago ORD
• Miami
• Atlanta airport

You can fly these routes with the carriers Delta Air Lines, Southwest, JetBlue and American Airlines. Other US destinations with quite some flights are the following:

• Minneapolis
• Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County
• Boston Logan
• New York Newark Liberty
• Philadelphia
• Baltimore Washington
• Washington Dulles
• Charlotte Douglas
• Orlando
• Fort Lauderdale Hollywood
• Austin Bergstrom

Hotels

Some hotels you could book in Punta Cana:

• Puntacana Village
• The Westin Puntacana
• Tortuga Bay Hotel
• Four Points by Sheraton