Cayman Airways is monitoring if the US government’s clampdown on issuing ESTA travel waivers for people who have travelled to Cuba in recent years will impact passenger numbers on its Havana route.
Currently, Cayman Airways operates two flights a week to Cuba, on Mondays and Thursdays.
The airline’s CEO Fabian Whorms told the Compass last week that the airline is able to pivot rapidly on the number of flights it runs to Cuba, and is able to increase or decrease them without impacting other routes.
So far, he said, the airline had not seen a noticeable decrease in passengers booking flights to Cuba as a result of US authorities imposing more stringent ESTA rules on people who have visited the island since 2021.
“We’re monitoring the situation,” he added.
Cayman’s national airline has been operating regular flights to Cuba since 2001.
Travellers trying to obtain an ESTA, or Electronic System for Travel Authorisation, are now required to declare on their application forms if they have been to Cuba since January 2021, when the US designated the communist island a ‘state sponsor of terrorism’.
In recent weeks, people who had been granted ESTA visa waivers – which last for two years – have been contacted and informed that their waivers have been cancelled and that they cannot apply for a new ESTA. Instead, they are now required to apply for a US travel visa.
To obtain a US travel visa, they need to travel to a US embassy or consulate in another country, such as Jamaica, for an in-person interview and pay a US$160 fee, rather than be able to apply for the ESTA online for a $21 charge.
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It is perhaps unfortunate that Cayman Airways did not advise Cayman residents buying tickets to Cuba of the horrendous consequences of visiting the island, but I suppose that would have affected ticket sales.I cannot believe that since the U.S. policy has been made clear in the press, that travel by Caymanians who love to travel to Miami for shopping, has not shown a “noticeable decrease”.