LONDON – Cayman Airways will relaunch nonstop flights between Grand Cayman and Tocumen International Airport (PTY) Panama, starting June 26, 2023.
The Cayman Islands national flag carrier originally discontinued the shorthaul route 8 years ago in 2015, when it was operated as a seasonal summer route.
In a ceremony attended by key members of the senior management team from the airline and the Minister for Tourism and Transport, the national carrier of the Cayman Islands, has this week announced that it will relaunch its route to Panama in Central America in late June 2023.
The route that will be serviced by its young fleet of Boeing 757-8 aircraft will operate between Grand Cayman and Tocumen International Airport (PYT).
Save for a few seasonal adjustments, it will run on Monday’s and Thursday’s all year round to invite travellers to fly out to experience Panama for long weekend breaks.
When speaking at the route launch, Cayman Islands Minister for Tourism and Transport, Hon. Kenneth Bryan said: “This is the second major launch between Grand Cayman and a major gateway in just six months.”
With specific planning around making it convenient for travellers, the service is set to leave Owen Roberts International Airport (GCM) late morning, and the 1 hour 50 minute flight will land you in Panama early afternoon.
The return flight going the other way leaves 1 hour 30 minutes after landing in Panama, and gets your back to Owen Roberts International by 5pm.
“Our announcement today represents another significant accomplishment in the partnership between the Ministry, Department of Tourism and Cayman Airways.”
“Given the significance of tourism to the Cayman Islands economy, we are fortunate to have Cayman Airways as our National Airline and strategic tourism partner.”
“I would like to thank the airline’s management and staff who I know have worked extremely hard to have this service up and running in a relatively short space of time,” continued Minister Bryan.
Chief Executive Officer for Cayman Airlines, Fabian Whorms outlined that the carrier is also exploring the cargo potential for the route in the future, with Panama being home to the Colon Free Trade Zone.
The largest free trade zone in the Western Hemisphere offers significant potential for inward and onward distribution between the Cayman’s, Latin America and the Caribbean.
“This route will provide the perfect mix of options for leisure and business travel for our customers in Cayman as well as in Latin America,” said Whorms.
“With a flying time of only about one hour and 50 minutes with our new B737-8 jet fleet, the flight schedule has been designed to provide convenient same-day dual-direction connectivity between Grand Cayman and dozens of cities in Central and Latin America.”
“The schedule also connects with some of our existing international routes, including Havana, Kingston, and Miami.”
This route will be added to the list of ten other popular Caribbean and North American destinations, those such as Kingston Jamaica, Havana Cuba, La Ceiba Honduras, Miami and Tampa in Florida and New York City.
Cayman Airlines began operations way back in 1968 and operates out of its home base at GCM, Grand Cayman.
It presently has 6 aircraft in its fleet, comprising of four 160-seat Boeing 757-8 MAX and two Saab 340 36 seater turboprop commuter aircraft.
