Following the announcement earlier this year by the Cayman Islands Airport Authority (CIAA) that the runway at Owen Roberts International Airport (ORIA) would be closed from late Monday night through early Wednesday morning throughout the months of September and October, Cayman Airways, along with all other airlines operating flights out of ORIA, were required to cancel Tuesday flights and make other schedule modifications. Passengers on the affected flights were rebooked on alternate dates, or airfares were refunded.
On August 14, 2019, three weeks before this weekly closure was to commence, the CIAA advised that the ORIA runway would no longer be temporarily closed during September and October. As a result of the closure cancellation, Cayman Airways re-introduced as many Tuesday flights to its fall schedule as possible. However, with the short time window between the closure cancellation and the affected Tuesday flights, not all flights were able to be re-added and some have had to be operated at different times. Tuesday flights to Miami and Jamaica have been added, along with securing domestic service between Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac and Little Cayman.
“Coming out of the effort to change our schedule and accommodate those passengers who had booked travel on Tuesdays, there are now some challenges in trying to re-introduce flights with a limited booking window,” explained Paul Tibbetts, Executive Vice President of Finance and Commercial Affairs. “Seats on flights are generally sold across a long span of time, generally up to a year. With weeks instead of months to sell, we are therefore cognizant of the fact that many of the re-introduced Tuesday flights will likely go out with light loads. However, we are mindful that for the next two months, Cayman Airways will provide the only connection between the Cayman Islands and the rest of the world on Tuesdays, once again underlying the Airline’s importance to our islands.”
Passengers wishing to travel on Tuesdays during September and October can visit www.caymanairways.com, call Cayman Airways Reservations at 345-949-2311, or contact your local travel agent.