Hurricane Melissa Recovery Boosts Dominican Republic Flights

Published on Nov 28, 2025, 9:35 am CST

8 min read

Key points

Dominican Republic has authorized 800 additional flights over eight months to absorb Hurricane Melissa displaced demand
Holiday hotel occupancy in the Dominican Republic is forecast above 95 percent, tightening last minute availability at Punta Cana and Santo Domingo
Jamaica expects roughly 60 percent of hotel rooms to be back in service by December 15, 2025, with some major resorts closed into 2026
Montego Bay and other Jamaican cruise ports are welcoming ships even as land based capacity remains constrained
Travelers who still want Jamaica may need to shift stays later into 2026 or accept limited choice and higher prices this winter

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: Expect the tightest capacity at Dominican beach hubs such as Punta Cana and in Jamaica's hardest hit western corridors including Montego Bay and Negril
Best Times To Travel: Late winter 2026 and shoulder months after Easter should offer more Jamaica room inventory and slightly less pressure on flights than December to February
Onward Travel And Changes: Allow longer connection windows when pairing regional hops with long haul flights, and avoid separate tickets across different Caribbean islands
What Travelers Should Do Now: Recheck bookings, monitor airline waivers for Jamaica, and decide quickly whether to rebook into Dominican resorts or move Jamaica stays later
Health And Safety Factors: Review post hurricane health advisories for Jamaica and Haiti, and avoid low lying areas still recovering from flooding and infrastructure damage

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Hurricane Melissa Dominican Republic flights capacity is surging while Jamaica rebuilds from the October 28, 2025 landfall, reshaping winter options across the northern Caribbean. Dominican regulators have approved hundreds of extra services into key beach hubs just as many Jamaican hotels stay closed or partially open. Travelers with winter sun plans now need to decide whether to follow the seats toward Punta Cana and Santo Domingo, or keep Jamaica on the itinerary by shifting dates, routes, or expectations around price and availability.

In simple terms, the Hurricane Melissa Dominican Republic flights decision means more nonstop seats into the Dominican Republic and a tighter, slower reopening curve in Jamaica, and that split will drive which islands are actually bookable for the next two peak seasons.

Dominican Republic Soaks Up Displaced Demand

The Dominican Republic Civil Aviation Board has authorized 800 additional flights over the next eight months, a mix of scheduled and charter operations designed to absorb visitors who had originally booked Jamaica, the Bahamas, Cuba, or Haiti before Melissa. Officials say projected hotel occupancy for the main holiday period now runs above 95 percent, with more than 8 million visitors already recorded between January and October and 672,000 arrivals in October alone, up from about 575,600 in September.

Industry comments make it clear that these are not marginal adds. The board's president, Héctor Porcella, explicitly framed the move as capturing tourism that would have gone to Jamaica, while hotel and tourism associations in the Dominican Republic argue that their resorts can handle the influx at high but sustainable occupancy levels.

In practical terms, most of the new capacity will flow through Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ), the country's main long haul gateway, and Las Américas International Airport (SDQ) for Santo Domingo. Caribbean and Latin American carriers are expected to layer incremental frequencies on existing routes from North America and Europe, while tour operators add seasonal charters that feed large resort complexes on the eastern and northern coasts. For travelers, this means more choices on paper, but not necessarily cheaper fares, because those seats are already being matched against high demand and near full hotels.

Price signals are already starting to reflect that tension. Canadian and European tour operators are openly warning that Dominican packages are running higher than last year, citing both demand from displaced Jamaica bookings and limited elasticity in resort staffing after a heavy construction and hiring cycle.

Jamaica's Slower Hotel And Infrastructure Recovery

Jamaica absorbed the most intense hit from Hurricane Melissa, which came ashore as a Category 5 storm on the island's southwestern coast on October 28 and caused damage estimated near $10 billion (USD), the costliest disaster in Jamaica's history. Western parishes such as Westmoreland, Saint James, Trelawny, and Hanover saw widespread destruction of homes, small hotels, and supporting infrastructure, while prolonged flooding created conditions for a leptospirosis outbreak that officials are still managing.

Tourism minister Edmund Bartlett and other Jamaican officials now describe a two speed recovery. On the one hand, early estimates suggest that about 60 percent of hotel rooms should be back in service by the start of the core winter season on December 15, with some sources indicating that 70 percent could be open by that date and up to 80 percent by January 2026 if reconstruction keeps pace. On the other hand, several large properties, especially along the hardest hit western corridors, have already signaled that they do not expect to reopen fully until mid or late 2026.

Cruise and air capacity are not moving in lockstep. Montego Bay's port has already welcomed its first large cruise ship since Melissa, and Jamaica set a goal to restart broader cruise operations in December, with around 64,000 cruise passengers expected over the early winter as major lines resume calls. Cruise passengers help restore visitor numbers without putting the same stress on limited hotel inventory, which is one reason Jamaican officials are leaning on ships while they rebuild land based rooms.

From a traveler's standpoint, that means flight schedules may lag or be thinned even where airports and ports are technically open. Sangster International Airport (MBJ) in Montego Bay and Norman Manley International Airport (KIN) in Kingston are handling commercial traffic, but airlines have already cut some lightly booked services while they wait for more beds to come back online.

Background, How Hurricane Recovery Rewrites Seat Maps

In the Caribbean, seat maps follow beds. Airlines and civil aviation boards coordinate closely with tourism ministries, airport operators, and large tour operators to match flight approvals to resort capacity and cruise call patterns. After a catastrophic storm such as Hurricane Melissa, that system tends to redirect lift toward islands that can offer reliable inventory, even when the worst hit destinations want visitors to return quickly.

Because most northern Caribbean trips from North America and Europe are packaged, a single decision to move a large tour contract from Jamaican beaches to Dominican ones can shift tens of thousands of seats over a season. Charter operators can file for new series into Punta Cana or Santo Domingo far faster than hotel groups can rebuild a damaged tower in Negril or Montego Bay. Civil aviation approvals, such as the 800 flight decision in the Dominican Republic, then lock in those patterns for months at a time.

For travelers who prefer independent bookings, these structural shifts show up as fewer nonstop options into Jamaica, compressed schedules on the days that still carry flights, and higher average fares out of major northern gateways, especially for weekend departures. They also create more one stop routings via Dominican hubs when travelers try to combine multiple islands on a single itinerary.

Booking Strategies, Jamaica Versus Dominican Republic

In the near term, travelers who are flexible on destination and dates will find it easier to pivot to the Dominican Republic. Punta Cana and Santo Domingo will offer more nonstop choices from large markets such as New York, Toronto, London, and Madrid, and package holidays will be aggressively marketed to backfill the newly approved capacity. With hotel occupancy already projected above 95 percent for the holiday period, last minute bargains are unlikely, but locking in a package early can still protect travelers from additional price rises as load factors climb.

Travelers determined to visit Jamaica this winter need a different playbook. First, they should verify that their chosen resort is accepting arrivals on their dates and that key facilities, such as pools, beaches, and restaurants, are actually open rather than under construction. Second, they should expect fewer room categories and higher sold out rates in Montego Bay and along the western and northwestern coasts, where Melissa's winds and surge were most destructive. Third, they should be prepared for infrastructure work, including road repairs and intermittent utility disruptions, particularly in the weeks immediately after reopening.

One pragmatic approach is to push Jamaica stays into late winter or early spring 2026, or even into the 2026 to 2027 peak season for travelers who want their favored resort at full strength. That leaves the 2025 to 2026 high season for visits to Punta Cana, La Romana, or Puerto Plata, where the combination of additional flights and undamaged infrastructure will make it easier to secure rooms, even if pricing feels firm compared with prior years.

Health And Risk Considerations

Hurricane Melissa's flooding left behind health risks, particularly in Jamaica and Haiti, where leptospirosis cases and other flood related illnesses have been reported. Travelers who do choose these destinations in the near term should pay close attention to health ministry advisories, avoid wading in floodwaters or poorly drained areas, and verify that their accommodations have safe water supplies and functioning sanitation.

Storm damage also complicates evacuation and emergency response. In parts of western Jamaica, road access remains fragile, and rural communities still face delays in power and water restoration. Visitors who prefer lower risk trips may want to prioritize better connected Dominican hubs or less affected Jamaican regions, such as Port Antonio or parts of the south coast, which officials say were hit more lightly.

What Travelers Should Do Now

If you already had a Jamaica holiday booked, start by checking whether your hotel is open for your dates and what level of service is realistic. Next, compare the cost of holding your Jamaica plan, perhaps by shifting departure to late winter or even 2026, with the cost of moving to a Dominican resort that has guaranteed inventory and one of the newly authorized flights. Travelers booking from scratch for this season should assume that Dominican beach hubs will be the easiest entry points, while Jamaica may reward those who can wait until capacity catches up with demand.

Either way, build longer connection buffers when pairing transatlantic or transcontinental flights with regional Caribbean hops, avoid separate tickets across islands, and watch airline and tour operator waiver policies closely in case ongoing Hurricane Melissa Dominican Republic flights adjustments and Jamaica recovery work trigger further schedule changes.