The Cayman Islands has welcomed the first commercial passenger flight from the American market in nearly 18 months.
The JetBlue Airways flight departed JFK Airport in New York and touched down at Owen Roberts International Airport shortly after 10am on Saturday 16 Oct, where it was greeted with a water cannon salute, the warm Caribbean climate, reggae music and a “Welcome to Cayman” banner.
JetBlue’s arrival marks the second international commercial route to open up in recent weeks.
In September, British Airways announced it would be resuming commercial flights to and form Cayman to London Heathrow airport, UK, via Nassau, Bahamas.
Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan, who livestreamed the event via his Facebook page, was on the tarmac at ORIA, along with other members for the Department of Tourism, to mark what he called, “a special day for the Cayman Islands”.
“[This is] something major because so many people want things to go back to the way they used to be,” said Bryan as the plane landed.
Minister Bryan said the arrival of JetBlue Airways is the “first necessary step” in rebuilding trust between the Cayman Islands, which has repeatedly delayed its border reopening plans, and major companies like American Airlines, which cancelled flights into Cayman for the remainder of the year due to quarantine requirements.
“Its all about getting tourists back here in the Cayman Islands, and in order to do that we need airlines to commit to the Cayman Islands, even when there is quarantine,” said Bryan.
The arrival of JetBlue Airlines comes days after Premier Wayne Panton said the official border reopening day would be announced next week. Details surrounding quarantine requirements are expected to be announced at that press conference.
Although Cayman’s borders were closed in March 2020, private charter flights have been able to arrive and depart freely.
The country’s national flag carrier, Cayman Airways, along with other major airlines such as Air Canada, British Airways, and Southwest Airlines all made repatriation flights in and out of Cayman during this time.
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One question. How many people were on the flight? No mention of that.
And how many, if any, were tourists prepared to go into quarantine?
Exactly my point.
Flight was empty.
Seriously? Do you know that to be fact?
Tillies, closed. Wharf, closed. Grand old house, closed, calypso Grill, closed. Most good tourist restaurants, closed. Nightlife, gone. Government has delayed too long. All the weekend talk at the Starbucks is about people leaving.
Turks and Caicos
Everyone I know (people who have a long history of visiting Cayman) has redirected their Winter travel plans to other destinations. This government cannot be trusted yet.
How many people were on that flight! Were they residents or tourists?