“It is clear to all that our published policies will be enforced. No one should arrive on island without the necessary approvals. The safety and well being of everyone who lives on our islands is paramount to this government.”
Premier Alden McLaughlin
(CMR) A British Airways passenger was allowed to enter the Cayman Islands on Thursday's London flight without pre-authorization from Travel Time as a visitor. Despite not going through the correct administrative protocols to do so, the Customs and Border Control (CBC) has allowed the visitor to remain after further assessing the situation.
During the press briefing, the premier erroneously shared that
“one passenger who did not receive approval from Travel Time and who was arriving as a visitor was processed by CBC and was placed straight into quarantine and departed on the outbound BA flight earlier today.”
Initially, the passenger was taken from Owen Roberts International Airport (ORIA) and placed in the Government isolation facility while further investigations were undertaken.
At this time visitors are not supposed to be permitted entry into the Cayman Islands. CBC has explained that whilst our island remains closed to visitors because this person is a dependent of a permanent resident in the Cayman Islands so permission to remain on island was reinstated.
It was revealed during Friday's government press conference by Premier Alden McLaughlin that one of the 95 passengers on the BA flight had landed illegally and without the necessary authorization to enter. It is mandatory that all persons entering Cayman under the control re-entry program must first seek authorization by Travel Time.
Travel Time is supposed to pre-approve all persons before entry into the islands and the airlines are not supposed to allow anyone on a flight to the Cayman Islands without the proper authorization documents. This visitor remains at the mandatory isolation facility for the required 14-day quarantine period.
This is not the first time that a question of someone landing illegally has come up during the COVID crisis. In fact, back on Friday, June 26 CMR has received some information about an unauthorized entry that was permitted on Cayman Airways. Details were never confirmed by the authorities, but a passenger made contact with CMR about the delay of their flight at ORIA because of the matter. Both CAL employees in Cayman and overseas confirmed the incident at the time.
Sources indicated that the person had recently married a Caymanian and it may not have been showing up on the CBC records. The outbound Miami flight was grounded as a result of delay causing persons to lose their connecting flights. Further, no one was available in Miami to assist those passengers with sorting out overnight accommodations. The government nor the airline provided the customers with any information.
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