Tourism ministry asks BA for more flights

| 28/05/2021 | 61 Comments
Cayman News Service

(CNS): British Airways has now confirmed eight fortnightly repatriation flights over the next three months between London and Grand Cayman, but given the demand over the summer, especially for students coming home from school and college for the summer vacation, the Ministry of Tourism and Transport is asking the airline to schedule two more flights in both July and August to help resident families. The ministry has asked for a flight to be added inbound on 7 July and another on 18 August.

“Following the release of the new BA schedule we received a high number of requests from the public for further flight dates,” said Transport Minister Kenneth Bryan, “We have responded to the needs of the community and have requested two additional BA flights. My ongoing sympathies lie with families who are separated during this pandemic. Let me reassure you that we are listening and are working hard to facilitate as many repatriation flights as possible during this difficult period and within the global travel restrictions that we face.”

All approved flight dates, along with the latest official travel information, are published via Government channels. The website and the Travel Cayman portal are regularly updated with the latest travel information, including confirmed British Airways flight dates once approved, officials said in a release.

Travellers who make reservations for unconfirmed flights (ghost flights) are doing so at their own risk, Travel Cayman warned.

Travellers are reminded that the only two airlines permitted to offer repatriation flights to and from the Cayman Islands are British Airways (BA) and Cayman Airways. Travel vouchers received from other airline carriers for flights that have been cancelled are not transferrable to BA or Cayman Airways.

Details of the confirmed British Airways repatriation schedule can be found at here.


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Category: Business, Transport

Comments (61)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    It would be great to get a nonstop to Cancun, from where you can fly nonstop to London and other European destinations, as well as Turkey and Latin American locations, without having to go through the USA. It’s as close as Miami.

  2. Anon says:

    BA is likely to pull this route altogether once it can no longer charge $2000 for an economy seat and there’s no demand due to the quarantine requirement. They are a business and have dropped other routes such as Seychelles due to the pandemic.

  3. Anonymous says:

    “We have responded to the needs of the community and have requested two additional BA flights.”

    Or put another way, we have told BA that after howls of protest we will uncancel 2 of the flights that we – not BA – had said had to be cancelled.

  4. Anonymous says:

    One thing that would free up capacity is not to continue providing quarantine in a hotel at government expense for folks that have already “repatriated”.

  5. Anonymous says:

    To late all LHR a to GCM are sold out.
    No vaccine no travel.

  6. Anonymous says:

    I think that the boarder can open up to Jamaicans and let we come and visit our family some of us long to see our families and children sinca this pandemic alot of family don’t see their families face drop the plan fair let us see family

  7. Anonymous says:

    I hope this helps eliminate the CRAZY prices our poor university students have been finding for flights home from the UK…..IF they even find a flight. Such a stressful situation for our young people.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Just require vaccination for permits and renewals. Simple, easy, done. Then all that anti vac loonies can enjoy their tinfoil hats.

  9. Caymanian standing Tall says:

    Canadians have the nerve to come here complaining about Covid rules when they have the most draconian measures of any country a 750K fine and 6month sentence in jail

  10. Anonymous says:

    In less than 2 weeks, we will be at 100% of the people who intend to be vaccinated.

    We just need a few extra doses on hand for when someone turns 16, or when someones family member gets sick and the rest of the family realise a little jab in the arm is better than a breathing tube.

    • Anonymous says:

      Tell ’em, too late. You had your chance, and said you didn’t want the vaccine. Here, have covid instead. Happy now?
      That’s the only way to get through to stupid people.

    • Anonymous says:

      Ventilators caused more deaths than anything

  11. Anonymous says:

    Travel Time is the hold up. They are operating at capacity. We cant do more flights unless the quarantine is reduced, or we increase our ability to manage people in quarantine.

    • Anonymous says:

      Two competent people would suffice. Not to add, to replace the entire lot.

      • Anonymous says:

        It’s also limited by availability of wristbands/phones for monitoring. Waste of resources requiring fully vaccinated persons to be in quarantine and using those.

    • Anonymous says:

      Manage people in quarantine! You think that’s what we are doing now? We equip them with a bracelet and phone system where the bracelet is easy to remove and doesn’t link to the phone half the time anyway, but that doesn’t matter much because other than a phone call there is zero follow up from Travel Cayman if you go off line. We schedule one home visit during their 15 days in quarantine. And that’s it.

      I have been through quarantine twice. The first time the phone stopped working 3 days in, and other than a call to ask if there was a problem there was zero follow up to make sure I hadn’t disabled it deliberately. The second time the phone kept giving false alerts – 4 or 5 a day. I would say I got maybe 2 phone calls to follow up on those in the two weeks. Management ? They slap the bracelet on, and everyone just pretends that you are being watched by big brother. Its really a trust based system.

      • Anonymous says:

        Yes because if your ass gets caught you are going to jail..that should be incentive enough to stay your butt in quarantine.

      • Anonymous says:

        Zero leakage of COVID into the community. None. Something worked.

      • Anonymous says:

        10:37 as someone who worked with travel time, you are full of crap. That is not how it works, stop spreading false information

        • Anonymous says:

          As someone who actually experienced it first hand, I say you are one that’s full of crap. It’s not how it’s meant to work o am sure, but it was exactly what happened. So maybe I am the isolated case. Yet anyone I have spoken to who has been through quarantine seems to have had a similar experience.

    • Anonymous says:

      My email to Travel Time was unread and bounced back yesterday, I emailed them in October last year.

  12. Anonymous says:

    Everyone is now in a hurry to reintroduce Covid-19 and community spread to the Cayman Islands.

    • Some balance says:

      I doubt that this is the case, many feel that we have taken every reasonable precaution including a great quarantine system and amazing vaccination drive of 78 percent of the eligible public (over 16) vaccinated.

      We just want regularly scheduled flights to allow for freedom of affordable travel and the allowing of more categories of persons who wish to come visit.

    • Anonymous says:

      Not so. Vaccinated people are protected! So let’s open up..

  13. Anonymous says:

    Just fly to to MIA.
    Daily flights available from MIA to Grand Cayman from the 1st of July so Cayman Airlines must know we are opening. Or is our own airline selling ghost flights as well?

    • Anonymous says:

      It is the return. US is not allowing any non-US residents who have been in the UK the previous 14 days to land in the US, even to transit.

      • Anonymous says:

        We are lucky the US is even letting us in since Americans can’t just come here right now.

        • Anonymous says:

          Americans can come whenever they want..They just need to abide by our rules but a lot of them particularly the Trump crowd don’t believe in following any rules including ours so they tell everyone that we are oppressing their human rights so they are not coming..

          They are many good Americans that are still coming here, quarantining and obeying our rules..don’t listen to the anti-vaxxers and the Trump Patriots..

          • Anonymous says:

            Except they can’t. Try reading the rules. We are only open to residents, property owners, relatives and those signing up for the global citizen program.

    • Anonymous says:

      How about American, Delta, etc… let’s go Cayman!!
      The US is putting the pandemic on the back burner and moving on- everything is now open or opening- our numbers are shrinking daily. We are vaccinated and ready to travel!

    • Anonymous says:

      That’s a really good point re CAL ghost flights. CIG is chucking a rock at BA for offering unauthorized flights, but CAL is either operating on inside information or doing the exact same thing. We cant control BA, but last time I looked I CAL was owned by the Cayman Islands!

    • Hancock says:

      Is Cayman Airways flying as well. 😎

  14. Anonymous says:

    Obviously, this clearly shows the government has no intention to open up Cayman to open until after September. No discussion of American Airlines. Air Canada, Delta etc, or relaxing the 10 day quarantine for vaccinated individuals.

    But I can only guess…….because Panton has not spoken about any hint of a plan despite being leader for over a month (and almost all other government leaders around the world giving regular updates on plans).

    Total silence by Panton. So much for the “transparency” you promised.

    • Anonymous says:

      The last administration routinely lied or refused to discuss issues they were sensitive about. This one doesn’t even bother to communicate at all.

    • Anonymous says:

      I think you will soon realize that this Premier unlike the previous one does not work from a knee jerk position, nor will he be pressured by by people like yourselves. He has already had one press briefing and I am sure that when he has some good information for us he will speak to the country again. Don’t his mistake silence as lack of transparency.

  15. Anonymous says:

    Quit playing games and open the borders. The people have spoken.

  16. x says:

    Good start, but it’s not enough. Weekly flights throughout the summer months would be ideal and would sell out in no time. Also, why have the government not done something about the Canadian population who are currently paying 4X the regular flights for charters back to Toronto? We should be doing our own direct flights on KY Air to keep the pilots busy and possibly make some money for the airline.

    • Anonymous says:

      You want special help for Canadians? You detain and force Caymanian students off planes even with student visas (depriving them of the ability to continue their educations), will not allow Caymanians in, have a history of breaching our Covid protocols, and you want special help from us in risking our Covid free status? Wake up!

    • Anonymous says:

      Not a Canadian territory, eh.

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