Punta Cana.- Miguel Valerio, the attorney representing the Eastern Airport Corporation, owner of the Punta Cana International Airport and the Punta Cana Group, asserts that the construction of the Bávaro International Airport has come to a halt due to seven court rulings against the project. Valerio describes the airport as “meaningless and unnecessary.”
He explains that aside from the seven court decisions, there was also a resolution from the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources on September 12, 2022, which invalidated the project’s environmental license. This move rectified previous irregularities and bolstered the institutional and legal framework in the Dominican Republic.
Valerio clarifies that the approval process for the Bávaro airport, located just a two-minute flight from the Punta Cana International Airport, was flawed from the outset as it violated established principles, regulations, and procedures in Dominican law.
According to Valerio, the Dominican Institute of Civil Aeronautics (IDAC) declared the project detrimental to national interests on December 22, 2020. The Second Chamber of the Superior Administrative Court (TSA) confirmed this determination on September 23, 2021, while also finding that the project did not meet the necessary requirements.
Valerio points out that the TSA has reiterated its position through seven verdicts. One of them, numbered 0030-03-2021-SSEN-00435 and issued on September 23, 2020, rejected a contentious appeal filed by Grupo Abrisa and the commercial company Aeropuerto Internacional de Bávaro against the IDAC resolution that initiated the process to declare the project harmful.
He further explains that the fourth ruling, numbered 0030-1462-2022-SSEN-00085 and issued on February 25, 2022, dismissed a third-party lawsuit filed by Grupo Abrisa and the commercial company Aeropuerto Internacional de Bávaro AIB, seeking to revoke the aforementioned sentence 0030 -1462-2021-SSEN-00535, upholding the court’s original reasons for admitting the initial contentious appeal.
Valerio emphasizes that in the fifth judgment dated December 16, 2022, number 0030-03-2022-SSEN-00547, the Second Chamber of the TSA rejected the contentious-administrative appeal filed by AIB, fully confirming Resolution 005/2022 issued by IDAC on March 2, 2022, which denied the application for an operating permit and aeronautical no objection to AIB, deeming it a valid and legal administrative act.
Similarly, on January 16, 2023, the Fifth Chamber of the TSA, through ruling 030-1643-2023-SSEN-00015, dismissed the contentious-administrative appeal filed by Grupo Abrisa against Resolution 005/2022 issued by IDAC on January 2, 2023. March 2022., which denied the application for an operating permit and aeronautical no objection to AIB, considering it a valid and legal administrative act.