CAL’s second Boeing 737 Max 8 arrives at ORIA

| 08/03/2019 | 62 Comments
Cayman News Service

New CAL Max 8 aircraft in Seattle (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

(CNS): Captain Steven Coe and First Officer Giselah Ebanks brought Cayman Airways’ second new Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft to Grand Cayman from Seattle Thursday evening. The aircraft is one of four in the national airline’s new fleet of Max 8 planes, which will be christened into service next week and arrives just as the flag carrier begins its newest and longest ever non-stop route to Denver, Colorado. The new Max 8 has made that gateway possible and Cayman Airways plans to add more longer routes after investing in the new aircraft.

The non-stop flight to Denver left for the first time on Saturday, 2 March, in the first Max 8 that CAL acquired last year, making Cayman Airways the first Caribbean-based airline to serve the Mile High City. The new route’s inaugural flights outbound and inbound were celebrated with ribbon-cutting ceremonies at Owen Roberts International Airport (ORIA) as well as at Denver International Airport (DEN).

Cayman Airways President and CEO, Fabian Whorms, said it was a “momentous occasion, and we are very excited about welcoming new and returning visitors to the Cayman Islands from the Mile High City”.

Cayman News Service

CAL President and CEO, Fabian Whorms (front) with Capt. Steven Coe and FO Giselah Ebanks (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

CNS has been unable to confirm reports, despite requests to officials, that the flight flew to Denver without any paying passengers from Cayman but it is understood that it did return with its first-ever passengers from the new gateway.

Whorms said the new service will reduce the travel time to Grand Cayman from typically between nine and eleven hours using multiple flights to less than five hours. Officials from the airline said in a press release that Denver was a natural addition to the Grand Cayman network, as Colorado boasts the sixth-largest population of scuba divers in the US and ranks as the fastest growing state for scuba divers since 2010. Grand Cayman is a popular location for scuba diving and is widely considered a world-class diving destination.

Currently, Denver is the largest US market without non-stop service to Grand Cayman, with more than 250 passengers per week travelling to this tropical destination. Travel demand between Denver and Grand Cayman is very strong, recording nearly 20% growth over the past year.

The new service will operate seasonally twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, through to mid-August, and will return in the airline’s winter schedule starting in December 2019.

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Category: Business, Tourism, Transport

Comments (62)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Both planes Boeing Max crash in the far East countries? so far none on this side of the world. Maybe and only maybe there is something worth looking into here innocent people are losing their lives. Whatever the cause they need to find it out quickly .

  2. Anonymous says:

    really good purchase guys.
    CAL Grounded the fleet yesterday.
    just send them back.

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  3. Anonymous says:

    And….. grounded!!

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  4. Anonymous says:

    Let’s hope, that our new aircraft does not suffer the same situation that caused this mornings crash in Ethiopia with their Max 8.

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  5. Anon says:

    Another Max 8 crashed in Ethiopia today. CAL is going to have a serious problem with getting frieghtened flyers to buy a seat on these new aircraft. I for one will not be flying them as a result of these accidents.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Agreed. Why risk it when we have other options? Sorry CAL I’m out.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Best find an alternative mode of transportation to and from the Cayman Islands. Or maybe get yourself a Star Trek particle transporter from Amazon or Ebay.

        American, Delta, Southwest and Westjet all fly the Boeing Max 8 into GCM. Maybe an Embraer will be your best bet, but those have crashed as well.

        Good luck with the transporter.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Bear in mind all that Southwest, Westjet, American Airlines, United Airlines, all have Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in their fleets and have operated these type aircraft into grand cayman already. Although they haven’t flow into GCM thus far, Air Canada also has MAX aircraft in their fleet. So check your boarding pass carefully next flight.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Your comments are meant to encourage fear..There are hundreds of thee aircraft in operation around the world. Both Southwest and American have moved to these aircraft and without incident..Many of us get on these aircraft with other airlines and don’t even know what type they are..Would you cancel your flight if it was an American or Southwest MAX 8? Why all the fear mongering? You are much safer flying on one of these aircraft than you are driving your car to work…

      Don’t get me wrong, two aircraft of the same type crashing does raise and alarm but let’s see what the aircraft investigators have to say before we start the generalizing..Both of these incidents have been in third world countries where maintenance of aircraft are not always top notch..

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  6. Anonymous says:

    So Lion air and now Ethiopian have both had 737 Max 8 planes crash, hopefully the planes Cayman has bought are safe…. I’m flying on one Wednesday, fingers crossed.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Third World airlines flying very high-tech aircraft. That’s an instant recipe for disaster and always has been.

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      • Anonymous says:

        as compared to us? silly comment

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        • Anonymous says:

          8:55 Remember the 737 that ran off the end of the ORIA runway because someone disconnected the autobrake? And if you dig deep enough that’s just one of a number of incidents involving CAL. What really interesting is the way CAL have kept all the problems they have out of the international reporting system, which I subscribe to. I wonder why that is?

      • Anonymous says:

        Ethiopian Airlines has an outstanding track record for quality and maintenance with over 73 years of experience. They’ve won several awards for their service and profit measures. They also tend to buy the newest of planes including 787s, 777s and A350s.

        Your prejudice on the airline simply because it’s from a third world country is disgusting.

        CAL on the otherhand doesn’t provide nearly the same service as Ethiopian with their outstanding reputation for delays but I bet they face no scrutiny from you because it’s a 1st world country right?

  7. Two Cents says:

    CAL – 50 years old and still sucking on a US$30M-a-year pacifier!
    Go by the airport today and you’ll see 6-8 profit making airlines that compete to bring passengers to Cayman, but we still need our own airline.
    The only consolation in this is that the aircraft are not fixed to the ground; we can sell them one day – when we stop electing Monopoly politicians and bring back some common sense.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Hmmm 6-8 profit making airlines …please name them..other than Southwest, which is taking a major hit now because of mechanics refusing to sign of on planes that are mechanically unfit to fly..I don’t see any…

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    • StopTheCrime says:

      You apparently are new around here. Having a national airline was a great asset after Ivan. Not all decisions need to be looked at through an economic lens.

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      • Anonymous says:

        The “we need CAL in case there is another hurricane” is BS. Government could charter as many 737s as they needed following a disaster. And for a lot less than the $30 off milllion they dump into CAL every year!

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      • Anonymous says:

        Still flogging the pre-post-Ivan horse I see..

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  8. Anonymous says:

    Now if only they could get them out on time…

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  9. Anonymous says:

    cal…5 star price for 3 star quality.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    cal needs to be sold asap.

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  11. Anonymous says:

    Alden, the dump ,the garbage problem ,and don’t forget johngray you started donkey years ago .better now that gas went up in the u.s yesterday .

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  12. anonymous says:

    10.48am So you checked everybody’s ticket. Since when is a Cayman Airways inaugural flight full of fare paying passengers?.

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    • Anonymous says:

      They were bringing the new plane home. It needs licensing here etc and made ready for paying passengers. Don’t jump the gun.

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    • Anonymous says:

      10:48 here – yeah there was the usual freeloaders. But my guess is over half the flight was paid for tickets. I usually fly American, so in no way am I an apologist for Cayman Airways – but this seems like bashing for the sake of bashing.

  13. ThIs WrItInG Is VeRy IrRiTaTiNg says:

    Why don’t the new planes have entertainment systems or even power outlets? I understand that putting video screens on the back of each seat is costly but having a system to stream entertainment to your own device seems to be the standard nowadays. At a minimum the planes should have power outlets at every seat to be able to plug in your devices.

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  14. Anonymous says:

    Why are the pilots not in uniform? Off the shoulder clothing hardly appropriate in most work settings as is a shirt sleeves checked shirt, except for happy hour….

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    • Anonymous says:

      Sounds as if you didn’t have your coffee this morning. Geez!

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    • Former CAL Employee says:

      Please be quiet you sound foolish. Its delivery flight. Always some idiot that needs to make a statement like what you wrote. Empty barrels make the most noise.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Casual Friday, dude.

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    • Anonymous says:

      They were delivering an aircraft not carrying passengers..The airplane comes here to be registered and checked out by the CAA and CAL maintenance before being put into service..Who cares what the pilots wear on delivery flight?

  15. Anonymous says:

    Well done Cayman Airways! We love you and all that you fly for. The caymanian people are proud

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  16. Anonymous says:

    Why was the departure to Denver delayed?

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  17. Anonymous says:

    The flight to Denver on Saturday was full of paying passengers and included a lot of children. I was on the flight and my ticket cost me US$709.04 so let’s stop the bashing.

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  18. Anonymous says:

    The flight to Denver on Saturday was full of paying passengers, including a lot of children. I was on the flight and my ticket cost me US$709.04.

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  19. Say it like it is says:

    Well could Mr Whorms undertake to release the figures on the load factor on this flight between now and August. It seems we got off to a good start, flying without a single fare paying passenger to Denver (but plenty of hangers on on free jollies), and I suspect (but it’s kept secret) very few Coloradans on the return flight.
    Just for once let’s have the truth!.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Empty barrel………..

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    • Anonymous says:

      Majority of the flights in the next month have less than 90 passengers on them either way, a few full ones here and there; but nothing is showing they can sustain this route long. Break even load factor on this is 70-ish %. Top it off with consistent delays due to clueless management, a far more efficient and profit making airline will take over the route soon.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Your comments are so stupid. What airline starts a route with entirely full airplanes on every flight? It takes time to market and build a route..Secondly, if you would read and know the mission of Cayman Airways, it is to build routes so that the other airlines can see the potential and start flying them and then CAL pulls out and goes to the next destination except in those cases like NYC which still does not have enough airlift to Cayman..They have been successful at doing this particularly at DFW where AA started flying the route, IAH and IAD where United is now operating, ATL where Delta is now operating and BOS where JET Blue is now operating…Do you think that these airlines would have bothered if Cayman AIrways didn’t blaze the trail? Cayman AIrways is more about sustainability and growth of our islands tourism and without it we would be like most other Caribbean Islands paying American to operate a few routes..

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        • Anonymous says:

          Good spin but total crap! You should probably read the Bermuda II agreements and then you might understand how it works.

    • Anonymous says:

      Really?? What airlines releases their load factors to the public? Geesh come on man, if you were selling anything, would you want your competitor to know your business..

      Some people just don’t get it…ugh!

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      • Anonymous says:

        American airlines load factors 2012 – 2018 was 82%. Information that is freely available.

        • Anonymous says:

          82 % on what??

        • Anonymous says:

          Post the link(s) where we can find this information..Unless you have some inside information that is freely available to you, stop talking rubbish and please be more detailed..82% on what flights? where from? Is this everyday or is it average over 6 years…Something tells me there will not be any forthcoming information from you…

          You are full of it!

          • Anonymous says:

            Google “American Airlines load factors”. You will find all the links you say are ‘not forthcoming’.

            • Anonymous says:

              You obviously know nothing about load factors except how to google them…the load factors you refer to are systemwide on American, nothing to do with Cayman so you are comparing apples with oranges..American will not give up their information route by route, that would be business suicide…

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