New planes open up new choices for CAL
(CNS): The arrival of the first of four Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft later this year will open up a world of possibilities for new gateways for Cayman Airways, airline officials said this week, as they announced that the first route the new plans will take on is Grand Cayman to Denver.
This will be the longest ever non-stop flight CAL has ever offered but the airline’s leaders said the planes could fly to destinations even further away if the runway at Owen Roberts International Airport is lengthened. CAL Board Chair Phillip Rankin said the new Boeing 737 planes could take the airline as far as Brazil, and CEO Fabian Whorms pointed to Vancouver as a gateway under consideration.
Whorms explained that even without an extended runway, the Denver route would not be a problem but to go beyond that destination, which the new planes are capable of doing, the Cayman Islands would need a longer runway because it would be difficult to go much further than this new gateway with full loads on the existing runway.
“Denver is not an issue; beyond Denver will be,” he said. “But the Airports Authority has been in the process of doing an RFP (request for proposals) for designs to lengthen the runway between 500 and 900 feet.”
Whorms added that for somewhere like Vancouver the runway would need an additional 900 feet to make it feasible. While it would be possible to alter the thrust capability, that comes with a price, he said.
Potential destinations with the new Boeing 737 planes include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Brazil and Vancouver, but the airline managers also spoke about flying to London with a stop in Bermuda.
But Whorms explained that the future of Cayman Airways lies with the airline offering direct flights to destinations that are further away, especially on the western side of North America, that no one other airlines are offering to bring people to the Cayman Islands as conveniently and competitively as possible.
Rankin said the airline was blazing new trails and the Denver route was the first of many benefits the national flag carrier would achieve for Cayman, with the fleet modernisation plan giving CAL the newest jet fleet in the region and the first Caribbean airline operating the Max 8 aircraft. He said that this aircraft was picked because of its ability to fly much further than the planes in the current fleet.
The first of the new planes arrives in November and a second in February 2019, with two more arriving before the end of 2020, giving CAL a chance to support the Department of Tourism’s goals and ambitions to open up new gateways to attract and broaden visitors, especially from the west coast of the United States.
See this week’s press conference on CAL’s Denver route and new planes below:
See what happened to Turks and Caicos? The UK took them over as too many incompetents were in power. Same thing will happen to the Caymans.
We live in Miami and loved vacationing at Grand Cayman but everyone there is incompetent, slow and never on time.
Dishonesty with Cayman Air is a big problem. All of these arrogant people will go out of business and back to mosquitoes and no progress.
Your people do not want progress and are against the people there that want to move ahead.
Say no to Cayman Air. A screwed up bunch.
If you can identify a “born” Caymanian on CNS’s forum where everyone is posting anonymously then your talents are severely under-utilised. And furthermore how adept do you have to be to get personal with anyone on a news site comment section? SMH
12.23pm It does not need the detection powers of Sherlock Holmes when you read the subject matter to which these noxious insults relate.
Go radicle CAL, go Scandinavia…lots of reasonably wealthy people who do Miami and other islands would not hesitate to come here methinks.
You can always identify a born Caymanian on this forum, they hurl personal insults against anyone they disagree with.
Fly to Costa Rica or something!!! enough with USA USA USA USA USA
USA USA USA ????????
I think a triangle route to Panama and Costa Rica would be good.
I also think a triangle route to Barbados and Trinidad would be good.
London and other European destinations ironically probably make more sense as there will not be too much competition, unlike the US market. Just the BA flight and by God that needs some competition…
I have lived here for 48years and travel frequently to the U.K.. I flew on BA only once and that was more than enough.
Why is that, 8:14? I am genuinely interested to know. I too have been here many times and while I am not much of a fan of the BA flight it seems to me still preferable to what I had to do in the old days, namely endure the misery of Miami immigration lines, hang around at a noisy gate for hours etc etc. Have you found a better solution? Note, I am an economy passenger, alas, so if your answer involves first or business class benefits it will be not much help to me, though possibly of interest to others.
only down fall in adding an additional route to the existing ones … is that we are still only operating four (4) jets. When one breaks down, it takes everything out of schedule … maybe its time for a 5th? or keep the 800 when the 300s go? just so we have 5 jets and not 4?
It’s uplifting to have a national airline, but as with all other regional carriers it comes at great cost and unreliability. The deployment of these new jets (albeit one per year) will only produce one certain outcome – even more cost to the taxpayer, except for those large numbers of the chosen “few” who travel free.
Here here, we the public are funding the CAL friends and family club. Until everyone has to pay their way the subsidy will continue to grow and fees will certainly increase for the new facility.
Have I been seeing things then? A 737-800 in CAL livery has been flying in and out of ORIA for several months now.
Whatever the range and payload capabilities of this aircraft, it is still a 737; not a 747, 757, 767 or 777. Who wants to make a long-haul flight on a 737?
BA flies a 777 trans-atlantic from the existing runway while stopping in Nassau for fuel. So for CAL to stop in Bermuda with a smaller aircraft on the same route they need a longer runway here?
I find it hard to believe that making lease payments works out cheaper than owning the plane.
Smoke and mirrors.
the newer 737s have longer ranges. LOTS of airlines use them on flights longer than 3 hours. think the longest 737 flight is about 7 hours. Operated by COPA.
PTY- EZE 7 hours 10 mns
PTY-GIG 7 hours 5 mns
PTY-GRU 6 hours 40 mns
PTY-SCL 6 hours 30 mns
You silently show that you didn’t even do your research yet still talk out of your ass.
The 777 has the biggest dual engine system of any commercial airliner and that shows off in it’s ability to take off from Cayman’s small runway despite it’s incredible size. The 777 also stops in Nassau because it leaves Cayman on a small amount of fuel in order to actually take off from the short runway, therefore refuelling properly from the long trip to Heathrow. The 737-Max while new, doesn’t have enough power to reach V2 speed at full payload while on the current runway, it needs more runway to achieve the speeds required to takeoff, understand?
You also don’t know anything about the lease payments and what benefits amount from said lease. Far as I’m concerned CAL doesn’t have $96Mil to just drop on a new plane, so it works out better and more economical to make lease payments.
as your username states, you’re a frequent flyer. Stop behaving like you know anything about the aircraft you’re a passenger in or the finances of owning an airline
8:46 am Don’t confuse people with facts. All of the posters are aviation experts in their own minds.
In other words the 737-Max is underpowered for its size. Very encouraging!
I’m with Anon. I don’t want to end up in the sound on take off.
“Oh look, we’ve landed on stingray city”
It is a B737-800 not a B737-800-MAX…Big difference!
Are you really a frequent flyer? with who? Aeroflot?
This is great and i wish CAL well, can’t believe people knocking this…let them try to make it work, the vision should be supported….there are hundreds of families here who go skiing annually and will jump at direct to denver rather than being shifted all over the states by AA/Delta/United…., and with the new planes, it also means we’re on new planes to Miami/tampa/jamaica too, not just to Denver…it’s all good and we should be proud of CAL…this is a good news story…..yep, CIG financially support CAL, but guess what? it wont cost as much with the new planes….so that’s good too.
Until they get proper code-share agreements where bags are tagged through to destination I don’t see how the Denver route will work for people trying to get to the west coast. If they can figure out the Vancouver to Cayman route I see that being a success but then Westjet or Air Canada will jump in once they see it working
I think that is what the Minister is saying they are trying to do with Cayman Airways..Build routes and let the other carriers take them over…blazing the trail so to speak…
The 737 Max 8 is a good aircraft – roomy and comfortable to fly in.
But still .. a 737 as illustrated by Frequent Flyer. Single aisle , minimal bathrooms , crowded galley areas for the crew to work. If I am not mistaken , over the Atlantic requires a 2nd flight crew or 2nd captain/first officer. Flying from here to Heathrow somewhat overly optimistic maybe?
I think that DOT believe that the Denver route for CAL would help with the people on Cayman wanting to fly to where they can get their ganja fix , and it would illuminate the importation problem in Cayman.
can someone find out what % of passengers on cal actually pay for their ticket?
6:44am, they should reduce/eliminate the free for all employee/past employees, board members family passes, that so many enjoy. How long should some of those people be allowed to fly free? It is ridiculous, also the many pieces of luggage they are allowed FREE. How can the airline be a success?
No bobo @ 9;05, Miss Sonia would never agree to that.
I attempted to stay loyal to CAL for my frequent business trips in the USA. A very poor loyalty program, poor customer service and delays forced me to a US carrier. It is not a decision I made based on a single event, but of multiple events and the final straw came when I checked in for an evening departure to Miami and was told the flight was delayed. I asked how long the delay was and the agent told me they had no idea until management made a decision about which inbound aircraft from other destinations would be used. We left close to midnight. That was it, I switched and haven’t looked back. Sure my US carrier has delays too, but they make alternate arrangements fast without me having to ask.
There are some good people at KX but what use is this with poor management and micro managing politicians?
. . . The chronic delays, the over crowded Departure Lounge at ORIA, no updates on signage when switching gates (mass confusion), then always waiting at JFK for a Gate upon arrival, and toilets not flushing on the aircraft, arriving in rain getting soaked disembarking, the list goes on and on.
Jet Blue offers cheaper flights. What have I been thinking in supporting Cayman Airways and promoting them? On my dime and time.
6:08 you do realize that they are working on remodeling ORIA right. The DOT are considering y’all comfort hence why CAL are not keeping the 300s but replacing with brand new fresh out of the factory MAX 8s.If you don’t believe CAL is a great airline, then how have they been around for over 50 years . Plus flights have to be delayed for different reasons.For example, one of CAL’ s plane went to New York with not one problem, but when they checked the next morning at JFK, she had a dented nose.How do you think CAL felt when their plane was damaged .Imagine having two planes out of service at the same time. Believe me I feel upset when they mess up but I know they try their best to get everyone from Point A-B as soon as possible. 6:08 I beg you good day.
One may wonder why no other airlines offer flights on the routes CAL has jst discovered. At least the handful of passengers travelling on these low volume routes can revel in the comfort of an empty plane with the knowledge that CIG is subsifising their travel
Exactly. I’m afraid Mr Whorms is way off the mark, quite possibly out of his depth too if he thinks “that the future of Cayman Airways lies with the airline offering direct flights to destinations that are further away, especially on the western side of North America, that no one other airlines are offering…”. The other airlines aren’t offering the route for many good reasons!
The role of the CEO at KX is to follow government instructions and not actually be a CEO as in the private sector.
Why start it after the ski season?
I guess the weed heads will be happy.
Lots of Bud n Breakfasts to stay st.
Can’t wait to fly out of this backwards country for some fully legal medical cannabis.
I look forward to seeing these new aircraft. Out the window of my American flight as it taxis.
And I trust that you leave and never return, you short sighted bastard. No Cayman Airways is not perfect, but I be damned if AA is!!!!!! Go far and stay long, Cayman could use less idiots like yourself.
the usual caymankind mentality….’if you don’t like it..leave”…..zzzzz
Exactly. They get so worked up over any criticism. Maybe the original poster is Caymanian!
I am sorry to state that your contract will not be renewed.
Oh it will, it will.
Best of luck on your future endeavours
1136….wait. So if you do not like what a person says you trash them just like that? Maybe they found out and you have not yet that Cayman Air is Government subsidized. Operates always at a loss.
Charges Caymanians way too much for flights.
Gives Govt folks and those that can afford to pay free flights.
Always late.
The Brac never gets reliable travel because of this crazy airline so things are set back.
They will not allow other airlines to come in and operate at a lower cost.
Cayman Airways is typical inefficiency that people put up with because if they speak out they will lose jobs and reputations.
Cayman Air is run by losers.
cal ‘s legacy is one of failure, incompetence and gross over-charging while still somehow making huge losses every year.
at every opportunity i will try and take another carrier for my travels.
And I hope your travel is on a ONE WAY TICKET!
Caymunkind.
Cayman Airways has always done a great job. The people who work there, most of them, are great at what they do. I look forward to flying the new jets every opportunity I get!!
You must be spending someone else’s money.