Cayman Airways Launching Fall Barbados Flights

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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