How Much Is a Flight to the Dominican Republic (2026 Data)

A round-trip ticket from the United States to Punta Cana, the airport most visitors to the Dominican Republic fly into, costs about $571¹ on average, counting every US departure airport over the past 12 months. That average hides a wide spread: the median round trip drops to $477¹ in January and rises to $623¹ in July, a nonstop from Miami to Santo Domingo averages only $355², and across 47 states the average from the main airport runs from $441³ in Florida to $1,143⁴ in Alaska.

The route behind those prices is busy: 10,611,254⁵ passengers flew nonstop between US airports and the Dominican Republic in 2025, 6.2⁶ times the 1990 count, and foreign visitors arriving by air are still growing in 2026.^{5 7} Below: fares by month, weekday, route and state, the taxes built into every ticket, 36 years of official US-Dominican Republic traffic, the airports and airlines that carry it, and where the country's air travelers come from.

The average flight to the Dominican Republic in 2026

How much is a flight to Punta Cana?

Round trips from the US to Punta Cana averaged $571¹ in fare searches over the past 12 months, all US airports and all airlines together. It is an average of prices people saw, not a fixed tariff; the cabin classes behind it are not stated, so treat it as a benchmark rather than a quote.¹ Punta Cana is the right benchmark for the country: it handled 71.8%⁶ of foreign visitors arriving by air from January to July 2026.⁷

The month you fly moves the price a lot. Monthly figures are medians of all prices seen in that month, with the top 0.1% removed. The median round trip is lowest in January, $477¹, and highest in July, $623¹, with June close behind at $620¹; the gap is $146⁶ per ticket. The day of the week matters less but still counts: Tuesday departures average $547¹ and Thursday departures $623¹.

Time of day matters even more: evening departures average $435¹, night departures $646¹, $211⁶ apart.¹

How much is a flight to Santo Domingo?

The capital's airport, Las Américas, can be the cheaper way in from Florida. A round trip from Miami to Santo Domingo averages $355² over the past 12 months, with typical fares from $283² to $450², $216⁶ below the all-US Punta Cana average. The monthly median bottoms out in October at $255² and peaks in December at $456²; July follows at $421². Friday is the cheapest day to leave ($343² on average) and Tuesday the dearest ($371²).

The nonstop covers 848² miles (1,365⁶ km) in about 2 hours 24 minutes².²

From New York the benchmark route is JFK to Punta Cana: $536⁸ on average, typically $398⁸ to $681⁸. October is its cheapest month, a median $417⁸, and August its dearest, $634⁸. Sunday departures average $472⁸ against $599⁸ on Thursday, a $127⁶ difference for the same seat.⁸ Nonstop service on the route is flown by JetBlue, Delta and American Airlines, and the average flight time from New York to Punta Cana is 4 hours 1 minute⁸ for 1,557⁸ miles (2,506⁶ km).⁸

Where your home airport sets the price

We looked up the Punta Cana route page for the main airport of every state; all 47⁶ pages that exist publish a round-trip average for the past 12 months. The cheapest is Florida: from Orlando a round trip averages $441³. New Jersey (Newark, $509⁹), Connecticut (Hartford, $517¹⁰), New York (JFK, $536⁸) and Georgia (Atlanta, $551¹¹) follow.⁹

At the other end, a round trip from Alaska averages $1,143⁴, $702⁶ more than from Florida and 2.59⁶ times the price; Hawaii ($966¹²), Idaho ($837¹³), Arkansas ($835¹⁴) and Utah ($830¹⁵) complete the five dearest. In 15⁶ of the 47 states the average stays under $600, and in 6⁶ it is $800 or more. For Texas the main airport is Dallas/Fort Worth, $679¹⁶; for California, Los Angeles, $586¹⁷; and for Illinois, Chicago O'Hare, $551¹⁸.^{16 18}

The best month depends on the airport. January is the cheapest month at 14⁶ of the 47 airports and October at 9⁶, more than any other months. The lowest cheapest-month median of all is Orlando (MCO)'s $355³ in January; from Newark it is $404⁹ in January.⁹

Month by month, four big gateway airports move in different ways. Orlando is the cheapest of the four in 10⁶ of the 12 months: its median round trip stays between $355³ in January and $552³ in July.³ Newark swings the most, from $404⁹ in January to $624⁹ in August, and New York follows the same summer peak, $634⁸ in August. Atlanta is the odd one out, with its dearest month in October, $656¹¹.¹¹

Taxes and fees inside a Dominican Republic ticket

Part of every fare is government money that no sale can remove. On the US side, a nonstop round trip carries the international departure and arrival taxes of $23.40⁵³ each⁵³, the September 11 Security Fee of $5.60⁵⁴ on the trip that starts in the US⁵⁴, a Passenger Facility Charge of $4.50⁵⁵ for the one US boarding⁵⁵, and three inspection fees on the way back in: customs $7.39⁵⁶, immigration $7.00⁵⁷ and agriculture $3.84⁵⁸. That is $75.13⁶ per round trip.

The Dominican Republic adds two charges. Its tourist-card tax of $10.00⁵⁹ is built into air tickets sold outside the country with the Dominican Republic as final destination; Dominican nationals, residents and accredited diplomats can claim it back.⁵⁹ Its departure contribution is charged once, to everyone who leaves the country, and airlines collect it: $30.00⁶⁰ since June 18, 2026, up from $20.00⁶⁰.^{60 61} The total comes to $115.13⁶, about 20.2%⁶ of the average fare to Punta Cana and 32.4%⁶ of the Miami-Santo Domingo average. The fares above already include these government amounts; they are not extra. Charges that the airports themselves bill per passenger are not government taxes and are left out of this total.

Two US fees rise on October 1, 2026, for the new federal fiscal year: customs goes from $7.39⁵⁶ to $7.61⁶²⁶² and agriculture from $3.84⁵⁸ to $3.98⁵⁸.⁵⁸ For tickets bought from that date the total is $115.49⁶. These figures are for a nonstop trip with one US boarding.

How many people fly between the US and the Dominican Republic

From a fare to the crowd that pays it. Nonstop traffic between the US and the Dominican Republic has grown in most of the last 36 years: 1,704,407⁵ passengers in 1990, 3,130,817⁵ in 2000, 4,609,450⁵ in 2010 and 7,733,829⁵ in 2019.⁵ The pandemic cut 2020 to 3,284,868⁵, a 57.5%⁶ drop, but 2021 was back to 7,443,328⁵, 96.2%⁶ of 2019, and 2022 passed the 2019 level with 8,581,475⁵.⁵

In 2025 the route carried 10,611,254⁵ passengers, the highest count in the 36 years of data and 1.4%⁶ more than in 2024.⁵ The counts cover passengers on nonstop scheduled and charter flights in both directions, all nationalities, between any US airport (San Juan included) and any Dominican airport; travelers who connect through a third country are not in them.

Airlines added capacity to match. Passenger flights rose from 13,955⁵ in 1990 to 73,509⁵ in 2025, about 201⁶ a day in both directions, and seats to 13,095,151⁵.⁵ Airlines filled 81.0%⁶ of those seats in 2025, against 80.6%⁶ in 2019, and an average flight carried 144⁶ passengers.

The busiest months to fly

Summer is the peak on the US route. In 2025, July was the busiest month with 1,183,373⁵ passengers and September the quietest with 640,482⁵; the peak month carried 1.85⁶ times the trough.⁵ June (1,025,109⁵) and August (1,039,217⁵) also passed a million, and December (961,996⁵) was the busiest month of the winter.

July is both the busiest month and the priciest on the all-US average, but September, the quietest month, is not the cheapest: that is January, which is busier than September.^{1 5}

Which airports and airlines carry the traffic

Punta Cana is the country's busiest link with the US: 4,966,598⁵ nonstop passengers in 2025, 46.8%⁶ of the total.⁵ Santo Domingo's Las Américas followed with 3,100,918⁵ and Santiago's Cibao airport with 2,096,372⁵, 19.8%⁶ of the route in both directions, compared with 4.8%⁶ of foreign visitors arriving by air in January-July 2026.⁷ Puerto Plata handled 384,274⁵ and La Romana 62,893⁵; Samaná El Catey saw only 184⁵ passengers from the US all year and La Isabela 15⁵.

On the US side, New York dominates. JFK alone handled 2,794,292⁵ passengers to and from the Dominican Republic in 2025, 26.3%⁶ of the route, and with Newark (1,324,454⁵) the two airports carried 38.8%⁶.⁵ Miami (1,373,167⁵) ranks second, and San Juan, Boston, Atlanta, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale each handled more than half a million.

One airline carries more than a third of the route. JetBlue flew 3,725,011⁵ of the 2025 passengers, 35.1%⁶, ahead of American Airlines (2,145,739⁵), Delta (1,588,233⁵) and United (1,348,783⁵); the four together carried 83.0%⁶.⁵ Low-cost carriers Frontier and Spirit follow, and Arajet, the Dominican airline, carried 218,617⁵.

Air arrivals to the Dominican Republic, by the numbers

At Dominican airports, air arrivals of non-residents, foreign visitors plus Dominicans who live abroad, reached 8,861 thousand⁶ in 2025, 3.8%⁶ more than the 8,535 thousand⁶ of 2024.⁷ The rhythm differs from the US route: arrivals peak in December, 977 thousand⁷ in December 2025, and fall to their low in September, 490 thousand⁷ in 2025.

2026 is running ahead. From January to July, 5,885,025⁷ non-residents arrived by air, 9.4%⁶ more than a year earlier and 20.6%⁶ more than in the same months of 2023; March 2026, with 954 thousand⁷, was the busiest March on the chart.⁷

Most people landing in the Dominican Republic do not live there. Of 6,469,982⁷ air arrivals from January to July 2026, residents returning home were 584,957⁷, 9.0%⁶; foreign non-residents were 4,989,982⁷ and Dominicans living abroad 895,043⁷.⁷ The Dominican diaspora is a large, steady part of the traffic, and it grew every year in the table.

Where Dominican Republic-bound air travelers come from

Foreign visitors spread unevenly across the country's airports. From January to July 2026, Punta Cana received 3,583,216⁷ of them, 71.8%⁶, Santo Domingo's Las Américas 787,864⁷, and Puerto Plata 253,701⁷.⁷ Set this against the US route: Santiago's Cibao airport handled 19.8%⁶ of US-Dominican nonstop passengers in 2025 (both directions, all nationalities), compared with 240,128⁷ foreign visitors, 4.8%⁶ of them.

By home region, North America sent 3,137,708⁷ visitors, 62.9%⁷ of all foreign air arrivals from January to July 2026, and South America 947,048⁷, 19.0%⁷, ahead of Europe's 599,084⁷.⁷ Asia and the rest of the world together sent only 25,170⁶.

The United States is by far the largest single market: 2,186,532⁷ foreign visitors, 43.8%⁷ of the total and 69.7%⁶ of North America's.⁷ Canada follows with 834,769⁷; together the two sent 3,021,301⁶. Argentina, third with 320,643⁷, grew 13.9%⁷ on a year earlier.

The Dominican Republic's air links with the rest of the world

Counting every passenger on every international flight in and out of the country, all nationalities, the Dominican Republic handled 19,592,791⁶³ air passengers in 2025.⁶³ North America accounted for 12,796,414⁶³, 65.3%⁶; South America 2,218,562⁶³ and Europe 2,093,895⁶³.

Over three years, South America grew fastest, from 1,517,996⁶³ passengers in 2023 to 2,218,562⁶³ in 2025, up 46.2%⁶, and moved ahead of Europe in 2025 after trailing it in 2023 and 2024.⁶³ North America, the largest market by far, barely moved between 2024 and 2025, up 0.4%⁶.

The airlines behind the numbers

Counted at Dominican airports, the US market alone carried 10,153,116⁶³ passengers in 2025. JetBlue held 33%⁶³ of it, American Airlines 22%⁶³, Delta 16%⁶³ and United 14%⁶³, 85%⁶ together, the same four airlines in the same order as on the nonstop count above.^{63 5}

The big four fill about nine seats in ten. JetBlue filled 93%⁶³ of its seats on Dominican flights in 2025, Delta 90%⁶³ and American and United 89%⁶³ each.⁶³ The low-cost carriers ran emptier: Frontier filled 62%⁶³, and Spirit's load factor fell from 83%⁶³ to 70%⁶³, 13⁶ points, while Arajet rose from 56%⁶³ to 60%⁶³.

What these numbers mean for planning a trip

Start with the calendar. The same round trip to Punta Cana has a median of $477¹ in January and $623¹ in July, and July is also the month with the most passengers on the US route.^{1 5} From New York, October is the cheap month, $417⁸; from Miami to Santo Domingo, October too, $255².

Then look at your airport. A traveler in Florida pays about $441³ on average, one in Alaska about $1,143⁴, a $702⁶ difference per ticket that multiplies for a family. The airport at the other end matters too: from Miami, Santo Domingo averages $355² against $372¹ to Punta Cana. Finally, remember the fixed part: $115.13⁶ of every nonstop round trip is taxes and fees, and that part cannot be discounted.

Conclusions

1. The average is a midpoint, not a price. Round trips to Punta Cana average $571¹, but the monthly median runs from $477¹ in January to $623¹ in July, and Miami-Santo Domingo averages only $355².
2. Where you start matters as much as when. The state average ranges from $441³ in Florida to $1,143⁴ in Alaska, a $702⁶ gap for the same destination.
3. The US route has never been busier. 10,611,254⁵ nonstop passengers in 2025 were the most in 36 years of data, and non-resident air arrivals are up 9.4%⁶ in the first seven months of 2026.
4. Visitors and the US route follow different maps and calendars. Punta Cana took 71.8%⁶ of foreign visitors arriving by air (January-July 2026), compared with 46.8%⁶ of US-route passengers (2025, both directions), and the US route peaks in July while arrivals peak in December.
5. About $115.13⁶ of every nonstop round trip is taxes and fees, 20.2%⁶ of the average fare, rising to $115.49⁶ for tickets bought from October 1, 2026.