It isn’t often that passengers disembark from a plane at Owen Roberts International Airport to be greeted by government ministers and a life-sized turtle mascot, but the resumption of direct flights from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, by JetBlue and Spirit Airlines this winter was seen as cause for celebration.
Acting Premier and Minster for Tourism Gary Rutty was joined on the tarmac at lunchtime on 4 Dec. by Tourism Ministry Chief Officer Stran Bodden, Minister of Planning Jay Ebanks, staff from the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism and Sir Turtle, the mascot of Cayman Airways, as well as large ‘Welcome to the Cayman Islands’ banner.
Awaiting them in the arrivals hall once they had cleared border control and collected their luggage were local treats including sorrel cocktails, plantain chips and marshmallows, all accompanied by music from a steel pan band.
“This is very important to the Cayman Islands,” said Rutty, as visitors poured into the arrivals hall. “It’s opened up another gateway to us for more carriers coming in and it’s going to be a banner tourism season.”
He added, “We have two new hotels coming online and we want to bring in more flights and fill those hotels, take people to Stingray City, bring more people to restaurants … We’ve got some good things in store for visitors to the Cayman Islands.”
The return of Spirit Airlines to the Cayman Islands was the result of strategic meetings between the Cayman Islands Airports Authority and Spirit Airlines at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit hosted by the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism at Hotel Indigo Grand Cayman in April.
From 4 Dec. 2025, Spirit’s route will operate three times a week on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
“The return of the Spirit Airlines service from Fort Lauderdale increases our seat capacity from the critical Florida market,” said Director of Tourism Rosa Harris at the time the flight was announced. “This flight demonstrates the confidence that the airline has in the Cayman Islands as a destination which will drive demand for tickets. We look forward to a growth in visitor arrivals from this new flight.”
JetBlue already operates direct flights between Grand Cayman and New York and this new Florida service will operate three times weekly on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, designed to cater, like Spirit Airlines, to short getaways as well as to longer stays.
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