(CMR) The Cayman Islands, led by Tourism Minister, Hon. Kenneth Bryan, welcomed the arrival of a Jet Blue flight carrying 155 passengers, from JFK Airport in New York, marking the launch of Phase Four of the Cayman Islands Reopening Plan on Saturday, 20 November 2021. The long-awaited day of reopening of Cayman to tourists was welcomed by many at the airport.
Phase 4 welcomes fully vaccinated travelers to the Cayman Islands without the need to isolate on arrival and saw a total of five flights arrive throughout the day at the Owen Roberts International Airport.
Before passengers disembarked, Tourism and Transport Minister Kenneth Bryan, Chief Officer Stran Bodden, and Director of Tourism Rosa Harris cut a ribbon to symbolically welcome them to the Islands. The flight was welcomed by CAL’s mascot Sir Turtle, colorfully garbed Quadrille dance performers as well as performing steelpan and vocal musicians.
The flight received a water cannon welcome from two Cayman Islands Fire Service trucks that penned a graceful arc over the taxiing jet as it arrived onto the tarmac. This was the first of two Jet Blue flights for the day. The arriving visitors also got to sample some rum punch and rum cake before they exited the airport building.
During the course of the day, another four flights brought in some 600 additional passengers including a full Cayman Airways (CAL) flight which arrived in the afternoon from Miami. Following the CAL Miami flight was the British Airways flight from London via Nassau, Bahamas, and CAL’s flight from Tampa.
Passengers experienced long lines in Miami with some sharing that the average wait time at the check in counter was about 1.5 hours.
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