by Brian Major
Last updated: 10:15 PM ET, Mon July 24, 2023
Cayman Airways will launch direct flights between the
Cayman Islands’ Owen Roberts International Airport and Barbados’ Grantley Adams
International Airport this fall, in a significant expansion of the carrier’s
regional service, Cayman and Barbados government and tourism officials said Monday.
The new flights are “part of our broader route
diversification strategy aimed at expanding global connectivity and maximizing”
the government-owned airline’s fleet, said Kenneth Bryan, the Cayman Islands’ minister
of tourism, at a briefing for media.
Bryan said the new departures are the third new route launch announced this year by the Caymanian carrier, as part
of a strategy to expand the airline’s operations “into the
eastern Caribbean market.”
The twice-weekly flights are expected to commence on October
18, pending regulatory approvals, officials said. Bryan added Cayman Airways is
“looking to add” service to two additional U.S. destinations by the end of the
year.
“This new service is a game-changer for regional connectivity.” – Kenneth Bryan, Cayman Islands minister of tourism. (Photo by Brian Major)
“This new service is a game-changer for regional
connectivity,” Bryan said. “It will deliver a faster and cheaper alternative
for traveling between the Cayman Islands and Barbados than any other currently
existing routes on the market.”
The new flights “will make it possible to travel from one
side of the Caribbean to the other within the same day without connecting
through Miami,” said Bryan.
“I know that for all the Bajans on island and Caribbean
nationals here who call these islands home, this unprecedented level of
connectivity will be welcome news,” Bryan added.
The new service will incorporate the introduction of a
second weekly Cayman Airways departure to Los Angeles, said Bryan.
“I'm sure this service will prove successful as Barbados
has previously partnered with Cayman Airways to provide a charter to service,”
said Ian Gooding-Edghill, Barbados’ minister of tourism.
“We have studied those successful charters,” Gooding-Edghill
said, “and they have been the backbone of the establishment of this service
beginning later this year.” He called the new flights “timely,” adding they are
scheduled to begin one day prior to the start of the Barbados Food and Rum Festival.
The Cayman Islands-Barbados flights will additionally provide
travelers with access to Barbados-departing flights to Antigua, Dominica, Grenada,
Guyana, St. Lucia, Saint Vincent and Trinidad and Tobago, “making travel up and
down the chain of the Caribbean islands most effortless from a strategic
standpoint,” said Bryan.
The new flights will also deliver key tourism benefits including
“[allowing] visitors from European markets including Germany, and Finland to reach
the Cayman Islands more directly, Bryan said.
He added, “The service will also expand our reach within
the United Kingdom by adding connectivity from major airports [and] offering
better flight times through various gateways.”
Bryan said the 55 year-old airline’s previous international
route launches beyond the United States “have been to places like Jamaica, Honduras
and Cuba. This is the first time a scheduled service is being offered to a
destination in the eastern Caribbean.”
Added Bryan, “The vision is to expand [Cayman Airways’]
connectivity to key locations situated to the north, south, east and west of
our islands.”
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