It’s been a strong year for Cayman Islands tourism as the destination continues its post-pandemic rebirth.
That growth has continued through what is traditionally the Caribbean’s shoulder season — and it’s been borne out in surging numbers for the destination’s national flag carrier, Cayman Airways.
Cayman Airways just set an all-time record for the month of October, both for total passenger count and passenger revenue.
“Cayman Airways transported over 31,000 passengers in October – breaking above 30,000 for that month for the first time in our airline’s history,” confirmed Paul Tibbetts, Executive Vice President of Finance and Commercial Affairs. “Similarly, the passenger revenue numbers for October 2022 set a new record for CAL, exceeding the pre-pandemic numbers of October 2019 by 37 percent.”
The growth was buoyed by this summer’s complete reopening of Cayman’s borders to tourism, Tibbetts said.
It should also continue with the launch of Cayman Airways’ highly-anticipated new service between Los Angeles and Grand Cayman, which kicked off at the beginning of November.
“Improvements to our schedule made earlier this year also resulted in robust on-time performance, and while high fuel and operating costs continue to weigh on the airline, the strong revenue performance is encouraging,” he said.
In a statement, Cayman Islands Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan said it was “an amazing accomplishment by Cayman Airways.”
“Cayman Airways is a valued tourism partner and plays an integral role in growing and sustaining our tourism industry by connecting our Islands to strategic international gateways,” Bryan said. “We continue to see the value the airline brings by making it easy and convenient for visitors to enjoy our destination. I look forward to the Ministry of Tourism and Cayman Airways working more closely in the year ahead to continue expanding the tourism opportunities for our country.”