Even before the announcement of government’s full reopening plan, international carriers Air Canada and JetBlue have started positioning themselves to gradually resume services to the Cayman Islands.
However, American Airlines, the largest US carrier, is holding fast to a February 2022 restart of its flights, as confirmed to the Cayman Compass earlier this month.
When asked for an update on the status of its flights, American Airlines officials said nothing had changed with their previously-stated position that “due to travel restrictions related to COVID-19, we’ve paused flights to GCM and expect to resume service in February 2022”.
As of publication time, an official reopening date was still under wraps, with government expected to release details at a press conference scheduled for 22 Oct. There were no further hints on what the full reopening date would be, nor what shape the plan would take.
Premier Wayne Panton previously stated he would give a month’s notice ahead of nominating a concrete date “sometime in November”, remarking at a media briefing on 14 Oct. that the introduction of lateral flow tests was a “game changer” in the effort to restart tourism to the islands.
Coupled with this, 79% of the total estimated population had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, edging the jurisdiction closer to its previously-announced vaccination target of 80%. This is also expected to factor into government’s next steps.
Air Canada set to return, JetBlue adds Boston route
Air Canada has confirmed plans to resume flights to Grand Cayman starting the first week in December through its Air Canada Rouge service.
An Air Canada spokesperson, responding to Compass queries, said on 20 Oct., “Our plan is to resume service to Grand Cayman beginning Dec. 4 with one flight a week from Toronto.”
The Canadian carrier plans to then increase these flights through the winter season to reach three-times weekly service from 10 Jan. until 16 April.
- Cayman Airways resumed weekly non-stop flights to Tampa on Saturdays, from 16 Oct.
- JetBlue is advertising direct flights between Cayman and Boston, from 20 Nov.
- Air Canada plans to resume weekly flights from Toronto, from 4 Dec.
A JetBlue flight from New York’s JFK International touched down at Owen Roberts International Airport on 16 Oct., becoming the first commercial flight from a US carrier to return to Cayman, since March last year.
Bryan, speaking with the Compass, confirmed the flight arrived empty, but he said “it did not leave empty”.
He added there were passengers booked on the incoming leg but, due a Travel Cayman issue, they could not take the flight and were instead re-routed via other options.
The tourism minister said he was pleased with the celebrations held to welcome the flight, which some have criticised since the plane was empty.
Bryan said the ceremony demonstrated government’s gratitude for JetBlue’s “commitment” to returning to service ahead of a full reopening announcement.
“We should be grateful for that,” he said, adding that, with JetBlue being the “first to the table”, he is hoping this will spark competition among other airlines to resume services sooner.
JetBlue is listed as operating flights from JFK twice weekly (Tuesdays and Saturdays), as well as from Boston on 20 and 27 Nov., according to the Travel Cayman portal.
At present, British Airways is operating commercial flights three times a week via Nassau, Bahamas, while Cayman Airways is running regular flights to Miami and Tampa, the latter of which restarted on 16 Oct. CAL also operates flights to Kingston, Jamaica.
Its La Ceiba flights, however, are facing challenges after Goloson International Airport issued a Notification To Airman (NOTAM) effectively downgrading “the airport’s operational capabilities to Category 6 with immediate effect, resulting in Cayman Airways not being able to operate its Boeing 737-8 jet aircraft into that airport”.
Cayman Airways, in a statement, said it had to arrange “recovery flights” using its Saab 340B+ aircraft since the Boeing jet could not land.
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