In a ceremony held at Tampa International Airport on 15 Dec., Cayman Airways Limited celebrated 40 years of nonstop flights between Grand Cayman and the Florida gateway. Cayman Airways is the airport’s longest-serving airline to the Caribbean, and Tampa is one of the airline’s longest running international routes.
In his remarks at the ceremony, Deputy Premier and Minister of Tourism and Trade Development Gary Rutty said: “For four decades, the partnership between the Cayman Islands and Tampa has supported small businesses, strengthened our tourism industry and opened doors for cultural exchange. But this route has never just been about convenience. It has been about forging deep and genuine lasting connections.”
Tampa is the home of a large contingent of Caymanian diaspora and has also been a popular place for Caymanian students to seek tertiary education.
“Families have been reunited, students have pursued dreams and businesses on both sides have grown because Cayman Airways remained committed to serving this vital link,” Rutty said. “And the past 40 years has taught us that when Cayman Airways builds an air bridge, it is safe, dependable, well-supported, and built to endure.”
Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors for Cayman Airways, Captain Kris Bergstrom, reflected on the airline’s history at Tampa International Airport, describing the 40-year milestone as a living connection between two communities that have a shared history, opportunity and family ties for generations.
“Long before this route ever took to the skies, Caymanians were already putting down roots along the Gulf Coast,” he said. “In the 1960s and 70s, many Caymanian seafarers settled in Tampa and in other Gulf cities, drawn by opportunity and the natural maritime bond that connects our people. Tampa became a second home for many Caymanian families – a place where culture, community, and commerce flourished.”
Bergstrom said that when the Grand Cayman to Tampa route was first established 16 Dec. 1985, it was only the third international route ever launched by the Tampa airport, which he called “a testament to both the foresight of the airport and the importance of the Cayman Islands as an international partner.”
On the day of the ceremony, passengers at both Tampa International Airport and Owen Roberts International Airport on Grand Cayman were greeted with festive decorations and floral displays. In Tampa, the celebration included live music by Caymanian singer and songwriter Stuart Wilson and samples of traditional Caymanian cassava cake prepared by Renda in the Cayman Islands, paired with Cayman Airway’s traditional fruit punch.
In addition to remarks from officials, the ceremony at the Cayman Airways gate featured a presentation of gifts, the cutting of a 40th anniversary cake that passengers got to sample, gift bags for passengers, as well as photo opportunities that captured the significance of the occasion.
Other Cayman Islands Government officials joining Rutty at the Tampa celebration included Minister for Planning, Lands, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure Jay Ebanks and Deputy Speaker of the House Pearlina McGaw-Lumsden. Cayman Airways executives joining Bergstrom included Executive Vice President Commercial Affairs and Chief Financial Officer Paul Tibbetts, along with Vice President Airport Passenger and Cargo Services Ivan Forbes.
The Tampa International Airport team extended the celebration beyond the terminal by launching a special social media contest offering a trip for two to the Cayman Islands including roundtrip flights from Tampa aboard Cayman Airways and accommodations at the Wyndham Reef Resort Grand Cayman.
Nonstop flights between Grand Cayman and Tampa operate five days a week, making Tampa Bay the destination with the second-highest number of flights between US cities for Cayman Airways. The airline carries thousands of passengers between Tampa and Grand Cayman each year, with some 17,000 visitors from the Tampa Bay catchment area having visited the Cayman Islands over the past year.
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