In the Dominican Republic airports are both state and privately owned. Those owned by the state are administrated by concessionaire companies.

According to Law 491-06 on Dominican Republic Civil Aviation (LAC) airports are classified as public, private and military. Public airports are intended for general air navigation use; private airports are those intended for particular use by a person or a company; military airports are those intended to be exclusively used by Dominican Republic armed forces.

To operate any public or private airport, an operator must have an authorisation issued by Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation IDAC. When an airport is a public aerodrome, it also requires previous authorisation from the president of the republic.

Dominican Aeronautical Rule (RAD) 19 defines aerodrome guidelines and airport certification, while RAD 14 defines regulations related to their design and operation.

Furthermore, the Airport Commission, an independent body created by Law No. 8-78, is involved in licensing and permission granting.

By a president's decree, the Dominican state set the airport fees and charges. Both private airports and state airports operated under concession are subject to airport fees determined by the Dominican state.

LAC provides that any aircraft entering to or departing from Dominican territory shall comply with the airworthiness rules provided by IDAC. RAD 25 provides that IDAC shall accept the airworthiness certificates issued by the European Safety Aviation Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States (FAA). Airports are bound to comply with safety rules set by IDAC.

There is no specific guideline for assigning a slot; airport operators usually assign the slots by arrival time order or as agreed with air operators.

The Airport Commission rules ground handling, which approves contracts and services fees in all Dominican Republic airports.

According to LAC, IDAC has to offer, supervise and monitor air traffic control services and ensure they are performed at an optimum safety level, as per ICAO rules. RAD 11 rules all matters related to air traffic control services.

LAC regulates any matters related to aircraft registration. To that end the Nation Aircraft Registry was created by IDAC. An aircraft could be registered by Dominicans and foreign citizens who are domiciled in the Dominican Republic.

Before an aircraft is registered in the Dominican Republic, the previous registration must to be cancelled.

Those aircraft owners who comply with the legal requirements could apply for a definitive registration.

Mortgages and charges on Dominican Republic aircraft can be recorded in the National Aircraft Registry. Mortgages are recorded by notarised documents, in accordance with Civil Code provisions.

According to LAC, an aircraft can be detained only with the relevant court authorisation, based on debts derived from airport and air navigation services rendered.

Aircraft maintenance is regulated by LAC and (RAD) No. 43. These regulations are applicable to aircraft with registration issued in the Dominican Republic.

IDAC must ensure the proper maintenance of aircraft registered in the Dominican Republic.

Likewise the law provides that an air operator must ensure that aircraft maintenance and operations are performed in the public interest and according to LAC provisions, rules, regulations, directives and orders issued by IDAC.

When aircraft are registered overseas, IDAC is not directly involved in their maintenance and it is just involved in control and ramp revisions.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.