Airport parking fees to resume, kerbside drop-off still restricted

Starting 1 Feb., free parking at Owen Roberts International Airport will come to an end.

The Cayman Islands Airports Authority has announced the resumption of fees for long- and short-term parking at the airport from that date.

However, the CIAA statement, issued Tuesday, made no mention of any changes to the contentious removal of kerbside drop-offs which was implemented last August.

Under that rule, which led to a public outcry, only authorised public transportation and tour operators are allowed to drop off or pick up passengers in front of the main terminal.

It was part of a new Airport Landside Security requirement, CIAA said at the time, which also included changes to vehicular traffic flow for entering and exiting the airport.

A special zone in the short-term parking lot has been allocated for those dropping off departing passengers. Drivers who are picking up arriving passengers must also park in the short-term parking lot in that designated area.

Airport parking fees

Short-term parking:

o 0-5 minutes free

o Over 5 minutes – $2 per hour (or part thereof)

o Daily rate – $48

 

Long-term parking:

$7 per day (or part thereof)

“Parking is free for up to five minutes after which time the standard parking rates apply, which come into effect from 1 February 2022,” CIAA said in the statement.

It added that it has upgraded the ‘pay parking’ system at ORIA to allow customers to pay by credit or debit card at the exit machines at both the short-term or long-term parking lots.

“The exit machines accept Mastercard and Visa cards and are equipped with an intercom help button should customers require assistance from an Airport Ground Transportation Officer. Customers may also pay their parking fees by cash at any one of the pay stations located inside the main airport terminal,” the statement said.

The standard parking rates at the airport will apply.

Governor’s Office addresses kerbside drop-off removal

Addressing the removal of kerbside drop-offs at the airport for private vehicles, the Governor’s Office, in a statement Wednesday afternoon, said it was open to assessing other proposals if they satisfied international standards.

In the statement, the Governor’s Office said it had supported an earlier proposal from the Cayman Islands Airports Authority that would have seen private vehicles move to the outer lane that had been used by taxis and buses, and moving the taxis and buses to the lane nearer to the terminal building. However, that plan was scrapped because it did not address congestion issues at Owen Roberts.

The Governor’s Office said it and the Air Safety Support International, which is the UK regulator for Overseas Territories airports, had accepted the earlier plan, which was a “simple, very low cost measure” that “involved little inconvenience”.

But the airport’s separate need to fix the long-standing issue of traffic congestion at busy times “led to a more complex and expensive solution being developed”.

“The Governor and the UK are entirely comfortable with kerbside drop-off, provided minimal security enhancements can be agreed. It is incorrect to say the UK sought to impose the current solution on the airport,” the statement noted.

The statement from the Governor’s Office was issued in response to a media report and comments critical about the removal of kerbside drop-offs, which, the statement said, gave “a misleading and inaccurate picture”.

Security at airports in British Overseas Territories is a governor/UK constitutional responsibility.

“The Governor and the UK regulator remain happy with the simple, low cost solution that was originally proposed and remain very willing to work with the airport in assessing any proposals that provide a sensible improvement in security, at least cost, whilst also fixing the long-standing traffic congestion problem. The Governor is fully satisfied that the UK approach throughout has been constructive and supportive,” the statement said.

The minimum standards that all states must apply in order to keep passenger terminals safe are set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the statement noted.

“The options available include keeping all privately owned vehicles at least 30 metres away from the terminal building unless other protective measures have been applied. In the Overseas Territory airports, this 30 metre standard has only been applied to the brand-new terminal buildings in Bermuda and St Helena,” the statement said.

Though the statement said security risks in Cayman are “low”, it added “they are not zero. It has long been accepted that the cost of the 30 metre standard to existing terminal buildings in Cayman would be disproportionate.”

The statement said all other Overseas Territories airports have been asked to propose sensible improvements based on their existing road layouts and any other protective measures that are already in place.