Cibao International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional del Cibao) (IATA: STI, ICAO: MDST), also known as Santiago Airport, is located in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic's second-largest city. The airport is located 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) southeast of Santiago City's center.
Cibao International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional del Cibao | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner/Operator | Aeropuerto Internacional del Cibao S.A. | ||||||||||
| Serves | Santiago de los Caballeros | ||||||||||
| Location | Licey in Santiago Province, Dominican Republic | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 565 ft / 172 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 19°24′22″N 070°36′17″W / 19.40611°N 70.60472°W | ||||||||||
| Website | Aeropuerto Cibao | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
MDST Location of airport in the Dominican Republic | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Helipads | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2024) | |||||||||||
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| Source: Cargo terminal info | |||||||||||
Since its inauguration, in terms of passenger traffic, Cibao International has been projected to become one of the busiest airports in the country. With over 2 million passengers in 2023, it is the country's third-busiest airport by passenger traffic and aircraft movements, after Punta Cana International Airport and Las Américas International Airport.
The air terminal mainly serves Dominicans residing in the United States, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Puerto Rico, as well as Haitians residing in the Cibao Region. Recently many tourists and missionary workers are using Cibao International as a gateway to the Dominican Republic, with new routes to Spain and Colombia.
The airport contains Dominican Republic's busiest international route (STI-JFK), with over 1.051 million passengers every year as of 2023. JetBlue is the primary international operator, with up to twenty daily flights. The airport has a new terminal under construction expected to be inaugurated in mid-2026.
History
Plans for the construction of the airport were first proposed in 1969. The Cibao International Airport Corporation was created on March 29, 1978, with the cooperation of José Armando Bermúdez (president), Víctor Espaillat, Manuel Arsenio Ureña, Dr. José Augusto Imbert, Mario Cáceres and Ing. Carlos S. Fondeur, who acquired the land necessary to build the new airport.
The construction of the airport began on February 15, 2000, and was finished in 2002. The airport was inaugurated on March 18, 2002, with two direct flights to San Juan operated by American Eagle.
In May 2002, Aeromar Líneas Aéreas Dominicanas made the first direct flight from Santiago to JFK Airport in New York. Later that month American Airlines and North American Airlines began direct flights to New York, Miami, and San Juan. A few months later Continental Airlines began direct flights from Newark. This was followed by direct service by JetBlue Airways and Delta Air Lines, both from New York.
Aeromar initiated Santiago as its secondary hub, after Las Américas International Airport.
In 2003, Aeromar Líneas Aéreas Dominicanas stopped their flights into Santiago after the airline ceased operations.
By the end of 2005, the airport's operator began one of the biggest expansions for this airport. They expanded the customs hall and rebuilt the west and east sides of the terminal. The terminal saw the addition of a second floor. This expansion was finalized in 2006. The runway's 400-meter (1,300 ft) expansion is currently in folders, but there is no scheduled date to begin or conclude this expansion yet.
In April 2008, Cibao International became the first airport in the country to eliminate fees for private planes, making it possible to increase tourism in the region.
In June 2008, Continental Airlines announced the discontinuation of their services to Santiago until September 3. Delta Air Lines announced new service to Atlanta, starting on December 20, 2008, and the resuming of the New York route on December 13, 2008.
On January 9, 2009, Spirit Airlines announced operations to Santiago from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, starting on June 21, 2009.
In 2010, the airport recovered passenger movements from the previous year, handling more than 900,000. It also became the third busiest airport by passengers in the country, having already ranked number three in aircraft operations. Also, in 2010, regular domestic routes from Santiago operated by Aerolineas Mas, Air Century, Caribair and VolAir were established. Aerolineas Mas became the strongest domestic airline in the airport and started operating Santiago's Airport as a Focus City Destination.
March 14, 2011, Aerolíneas Mas, Air Century, Vol Air and Caribair all cancelled their domestic flights. The domestic terminal was then used for private charter flights.
On April 1, 2013, American Airlines stopped their direct flight to New York's JFK Airport.
In December 2019, there were plans by Frontier Airlines to operate flights from Newark, New Jersey, to Santiago. However, their plans to operate the EWR-STI route were cancelled due to airport restrictions. That route was successful, however, as JetBlue was operating direct flights on the EWR-STI route as of October 2022.
Up until January 2020, the airport operated on private land which was not paid to the original owners; the current administration was plagued with multiple lawsuits, with the lower courts siding with the landowners. The case is currently in the Supreme Court.[citation needed]
Infrastructure
The Cibao International Airport infrastructure consists of the main international terminal, a domestic terminal and a cargo terminal. The international terminal is the most utilized and receives most of the flights operating to and from Cibao International Airport and it has modern installations to make easier the check-in, boarding and baggage claim processes.
International terminal
The airport's main terminal (international) has six gates (B1-B6). Five of these gates provide boarding docks (B1-B2/B4-B6). It is located between the domestic terminal and the cargo terminal. It has all of the facilities of a modern airport. Future expansion of this airport is being discussed which would include additional gates and baggage handling areas as well as expanding the taxiway. Recently gates B1 and B2 received boarding docks leaving gate B3 for smaller aircraft. JetBlue Airways is currently the largest carrier at the airport.
Domestic terminal
The airport's domestic terminal, also called the general aviation hall, has three stands (A1 to A3), and is located next to the international terminal. It was used for domestic flights and is now used for charter private flights. Aerolineas Mas was currently the major domestic airline in this airport. The airline operated flights to Santo Domingo-JBQ and Port-au-Prince, and with plans to operate regularly to Punta Cana, Aerolineas Mas had made this airport its focus city. Air Century ceased operations on regular domestic flights from/to Santo Domingo-JBQ, Punta Cana and Puerto Plata, operating all their flights through the domestic terminal. Domestic flights are no longer available at this Dominican airport. The international air terminal is the only terminal in use.
Runway and taxiways
The runway length is 2,620 m, which can support all types of passenger airliners. The airport's operators are discussing the expansion of the runway to allow larger aircraft for long-haul flights from Europe. Cibao International Airport's taxiways are composed by two exits E-1 and E-2; E-1 is located on the west side of Runway 11/29, next to the direction 11 of that runway. E-2 is located in the east side of the runway, next to direction 29 of the runway.
Expansion
On July 4, 2021, the Cibao International Airport S.A. announced a plan to renovate most of the airport's existing infrastructure with a cost of $300 million. The airport is currently the third busiest in the country, and is expected to increase its services from 2 million of passengers in 2023 to 3.5+ million by 2040.
The design work was carried out by Luis Vidal + Architects, and it will be built under the direction of the Airport's technical team. The plan calls for building a new, international terminal equipped with nine contact stands, the transformation of the current building into a hybrid mixed-use space, the extension of the aircraft movement and parking platform, extension of the runway by about 380 meters to accommodate aircraft with greater capacity and range and a new taxiway.
Since December of 2021 the airport is under renovation. The Airport technical team estimates that the renovation process will take about 26 months.
Runway lighting
| RWY Designador | Tipe LEN INTST | THR LGT (colour) WBAR | PAPI | LGT LEN | RWY Center Line LGT | RWY Edge LGT (colour) | RWY End LGT (colour) | SWY LGT (colour) | ILS (colour) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runway 11 | MALSR | Green | PAPI 4 | None | Yellow-blue | White-blue | Red | None | White |
| Runway 29 | Green | PAPI 4 | None | Yellow-blue | White-blue | Red | Yellow-white | White |
Military
This airport also served as the northern air base for the Dominican Air Force, but mainly as a support facility. Presently there are no military aircraft stationed at this airport.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
As of 2025, the airport serves scheduled international flights to Europe, North America, and parts of the Caribbean.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air Europa | Madrid |
| American Airlines | Miami |
| Caicos Express Airways | Providenciales |
| Copa Airlines | Panama City–Tocumen (resumes 15 January 2026) |
| Delta Air Lines | New York–JFK |
| Frontier Airlines | San Juan Seasonal: Philadelphia |
| InterCaribbean Airways | Providenciales |
| JetBlue | Boston, Fort Lauderdale New York–JFK, Newark, Orlando, San Juan |
| Sky High | Seasonal: Miami[citation needed] |
| Spirit Airlines | Fort Lauderdale |
| United Airlines | Newark |
Cargo
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Amerijet International | Miami, Puerto Plata |
Statistics
| Rank | City | Passengers | Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York-JFK, United States | 1,078,149 | Delta Air Lines, JetBlue |
| 2 | Newark, United States | 493,970 | JetBlue, United Airlines |
| 3 | Miami, United States | 202,846 | American Airlines, Sky High |
| 4 | Boston, United States | 155,940 | JetBlue |
| 5 | Orlando, United States | 92,933 | JetBlue |
| 6 | Fort Lauderdale, United States | 71,041 | Spirit Airlines |
| 7 | San Juan, Puerto Rico | 47,979 | Frontier Airlines, JetBlue |
| 8 | Panama City-Tocumen, Panama | 25,426 | Copa Airlines |
| 9 | Madrid, Spain | 18,615 | Air Europa |
| 10 | Medellín–JMC, Colombia | 15,332 | Arajet |
Incidents and accidents
- On February 7, 2008, a Caribair flight crashed close to La Romana, when its engines stopped. There were no fatalities, but the pilot had some injuries. The aircraft was a Britten Norman Islander BN-2A, registered as HI-653CA, and had departed on a flight to Punta Cana International Airport via La Romana International Airport at around 18:00 local time.
See also
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