The Professor Juan Bosch International Airport in El Catey, Samana, built at a cost of US$80 million, was inaugurated yesterday at a ceremony attended by President Leonel Fernandez, as reported in the Listin Diario. The airport has been receiving flights since November 2006. President Fernandez announced that an additional US$115 million would be invested to extend the Santo Domingo-Rincon de Molenillo highway in Samana to the town of Nagua. He also reported that a smaller connecting road would be built for traffic from the new airport to the touristic town of Las Terrenas on the northern side of the Samana peninsula.
The airport was built by Aerodom and will serve the country's northeastern tourist area, which currently has 2,400 hotel rooms. A plan is in the works to build 5,400 additional rooms in the next five years. The airport is 35 kilometers from Samana and 18 kilometers from Nagua. Public Works Minister Freddy Perez says that the opening of the airport, along with the completion of the Samana-Santo Domingo highway, which should be completed by December of this year, represents a big step in the development of the whole northeastern tourist zone. When the airport opened in December 2006 only six flights per week were scheduled, but Hoy reports that it has been receiving close to 18 flights per week. There is also the possibility that Delta Airlines could begin a Atlanta-Samana frequency later this year.
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