Summary
- An Air Europa Boeing 787-9 was damaged upon landing at Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic.
- The aircraft stayed at the airport for two days before returning to Madrid.
- Air Europa plays a significant role in connecting Spain and Latin America, as well as the Carribean.
An Air Europa Boeing 787-9, which suffered damage to its fuselage while landing at Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, is now back on its way to Madrid, Spain, after it had spent two days in the Caribbean country. The aircraft is flying to the Spanish capital using a special flight code.
Runway debris
According to Flighradar24, the Boeing 787-9, registered as EC-NBX, departed Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD) at 15:51 (UTC +2) on April 07, arriving at Santo Domingo Las Americas International Airport (SDQ) at 18:47 (UTC -6) on the same day.
However, as it landed at the airport, foreign object debris (FOD) from the airport’s runway damaged the fuselage of the Boeing 787-9, pictures shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed. Further images showed potholes on the runway, which could point to the source of the damage to the aircraft’s fuselage.
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Returning to MAD
While the aircraft had spent two days at SDQ, with its return journey that was scheduled to depart on April 7 being canceled, the Air Europa Boeing 787-9 has departed the Dominican Republic and is on its way to the Spanish capital at the time of writing.
Photo: Adomas Daunoravicius | Shutterstock
Flightradar24 records showed that the aircraft was flying using the special flight code AEA088A, possibly indicating that the Boeing 787-9 was being moved to Spain without any passengers. The normal return flight from SDQ to MAD is operated using the flight code UX88, with the airline not operating the itinerary on April 7. On April 8 and April 9, two Boeing 787-9 aircraft, EC-OEM and EC-NGM, respectively, operated flight UX88. Both landed at SDQ on time after spending around seven hours in the air while crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
Related
Air Europa Increases Service On Key Latin American Routes
The Spanish carrier currently flies to 18 destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Key airline between Spain and Central and South America
According to data from the aviation analytics company Cirium, Air Europa has 1,266 scheduled one-way weekly flights in April, which is expected to grow to 1,349 one-way weekly flights by June. Out of those, 91 are scheduled to fly to Latin America, which includes the Caribbean, in April, growing to 94 one-way weekly flights in June.
Photo: Kevin Hackert | Shutterstock
The site’s data showed that there were a total of 394 one-way weekly flights from all of Spain to Latin America and the Caribbean in April, growing to 438 one-way weekly flights by June. In April, Air Europa and Iberia, the subsidiary of International Airlines Group (IAG), which aims to acquire the remaining 80% shares of Air Europa from Globalia, have combined for 251 out of the 394 flights, or 63.7% of the market.
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The European Commission (EC) should publish its decision by early June 2024.
