Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Punta Cana International Airport (MDPC/PUJ) is a privately owned commercial airport serving Punta Cana in La Altagracia Province on the eastern tip of the Dominican Republic. Built by Grupo Puntacana and opened in December 1983, it is now the busiest airport in the country, distinguished by open-air terminals roofed in palm fronds. For a simulator pilot it offers a pair of long hard-surface runways set in a lush resort landscape, with full air traffic control services.
Punta Cana International Airport, known by its ICAO code MDPC and IATA code PUJ, lies at Punta Cana in La Altagracia Province in the eastern Dominican Republic. It is privately owned and operated by Corporacion Aeroportuaria del Este (CAE), a company within the Puntacana Resort & Club group, and is the busiest airport in the country. Its open-air terminal buildings, roofed with palm fronds and designed by architect Oscar Imbert, give it a distinctive tropical character that makes it an interesting and recognisable destination for a virtual flight into the Caribbean.
The airport sits on the eastern side of the island of Hispaniola, in the Punta Cana area of La Altagracia Province, at coordinates 18.5708 N, 68.3662 W and an elevation of 39 feet. It began life alongside the Punta Cana Club hotel, the first resort built in the area in 1971, and grew into a full international gateway as the surrounding tourist coastline developed.
Punta Cana International has two parallel hard-surfaced runway pairs. Runway 08/26 is 10,168/10,167 feet long, and runway 09/27 is 10,158/10,158 feet long; both are lit. There is no ILS installed.
The airport operates with full air traffic control. Aerodrome frequency (A/D) is 119.7 MHz, Delivery on 121.65 MHz, Ground on 121.9 MHz and Tower on 118.8 MHz, with an ATIS broadcast on 132.85 MHz. Approach control is provided by Las Americas Approach on 119.3 MHz.
Aviation in the Punta Cana area began in 1971 when Grupo Puntacana built the Punta Cana Club hotel together with a small airstrip, at a time when there were no roads or harbours and access to the area was only possible by air. Visitors originally had to route through Las Americas International Airport in Santo Domingo and take a short onward flight in a small aircraft. As tourism grew, Grupo Puntacana constructed a proper international airport, designed by architect Oscar Imbert with open-air terminals roofed in palm fronds, which was inaugurated in December 1983. The airport's first international flight arrived in January 1984 from San Juan, Puerto Rico, operated by Prinair, and the tarmac was later expanded to accommodate jet aircraft with radar systems added to the control tower. In 1987 the airport gained its first route to the United States, connecting Punta Cana with Miami.
Punta Cana International remains privately owned and operated by Corporacion Aeroportuaria del Este as part of the Puntacana Resort & Club group. It is now the busiest airport in the Dominican Republic and the second-busiest in the Caribbean, serving around ninety airports across twenty-six countries through its Terminal A and Terminal B, both retaining the airport's original open-air, palm-roofed architectural style.
