On Saturday, four United Airlines aircraft arrived in Cayman for the first time since local borders were closed in 2020.
The welcome activities marked the resumption of United Airlines service from Newark, Washington (Dulles) Chicago and Houston.
The first of the four arrivals was greeted with a water cannon salute, with Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan, Deputy Premier Chris Saunders, Miss Cayman Islands Universe Georgina Kerford and a host of other government officials on hand to welcome back the airline.
Cayman Compass was there to capture the moment in video and photos:
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It would be interesting to know how many passengers were on each of those flights. It is still my opinion that airlines will not operate flights with more empty seats than sold seats.
It remains my opinion that tourists will not return as long as the 2/5/7 testing is in place. Families will continue to be restricted as long as unvaccinated kids age 12-17 are not allowed to visit without quarantine. At some point, CIG must come to understand opening to tourism means much more than a few mostly empty flights arriving. We’ve lost spring break, we are on the verge of losing Easter as well as summer visitors. Plans are made in advance and let’s face it going elsewhere is much easier than coming to Cayman.
All four of the flights were actually pretty full, however it is to be noted the only other flights coming into the airport that day were JetBlue from JFK & Boston!! You are spot on with the testing. Most countries are outright dropping all testing requirements, and i wouldn’t doubt that the US will follow shortly soon. On a bright note, it is good that these flights were full because United was hesitant to return to Cayman.
I came in on that flight and it was 80% full. In fact, I walk by at the 10:32 section of the video wearing a white hat! 🙂
So glad that it is finally back open.
To increase tourism from the US, I would suggest
1. Reduce the testing requirements on island. Everyone coming here is vaccinated and tested 24 hours before boarding. Why are 2 more tests required? It scares tourists off compared to other islands.
2. Get reasonable on the hotel rates. For some reason, the hotels decided to go full price this year before tourists returned?! Fill up the hotels with special packages and then get full rates next busy season.
3. If you do that, you can open up places such as Rum Point and Red Sails that attract more tourists and more dollars.
Glad to see the best island welcoming people back!
This pandemic is over if we let it be. It would be great if government could be more progressive to the new reality of the world and make adjustments to mask rules and get us all back to a culture of service and welcome.