Denver International Airport Announces its 11th Foreign-Flag Carrier Along with a New Sunny Destination

DENVER – August 27, 2018 – Grab your passport, sandals, sunscreen and scuba gear as you will soon be able to fly nonstop to the Cayman Islands. Today Denver International Airport (DEN) welcomed a new airline, Cayman Airways Limited (CAL), and announced that the carrier will begin offering nonstop service between Denver and Grand Cayman (GCM) beginning March 2, 2019. This will be Denver’s only nonstop service to an island in the Caribbean.

“Each new airline or a nonstop destination provides our residents and visitors more options to explore the world, while also creating new tourism and businesses opportunities here in Denver,” said Mayor Michael B. Hancock. “We thank Cayman Airways for investing in our community, and we’re pleased to welcome them as the first Caribbean-based airline to serve Denver.”

The new service will operate twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, throughout the peak travel periods, with reduced frequency in September, October and November. The nonstop flight is approximately five hours each way and will operate using a Boeing 737 MAX 8 with 160 seats, a new addition to the Cayman Airways fleet.

“Cayman Airways plays a key strategic role in providing airlift to the Cayman Islands and so we’re excited about the introduction of nonstop service between Grand Cayman and Denver, Colorado” said Minister for Tourism, the Hon. Moses Kirkconnell. “Denver is well known as a community of avid divers who will be thrilled by having the convenience and opportunity to dive in Cayman more often. We are especially pleased that the arrival of CAL’s first Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft this November will help to support dive tourism due to the aircraft’s ability to serve long-range destinations.”

Grand Cayman is perhaps most well-known as a world-class Scuba diving destination. Despite the state’s landlocked location, Colorado is home to the sixth-largest population of Scuba divers in the U.S. and ranked as the fastest-growing state for Scuba divers since 2010, making Denver a natural addition to the Cayman Airways network. (Data according to Diving Equipment and Marketing Association.)

Chairman of the Board of Directors for Cayman Airways, Phillip Rankin, said; “The introduction of the Denver route is a milestone for Cayman Airways as the longest scheduled commercial flight we’ve ever operated in the airline’s 50-year history. It is just the first of many benefits our national airline will achieve for our country with the Fleet Modernization Plan that will see our National Airline boast having the newest jet fleet in the region, while being the first Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft operator in the Caribbean.”

President and CEO of Cayman Airways, Fabian Whorms, commented: “The new Denver nonstop service will reduce the travel time to Cayman from typically between nine and eleven hours using multiple flights, to less than five hours aboard a direct flight on our brand new state-of-the-art Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft with industry-leading comfort and legroom in both our Business and Economy cabins, combined with our renown Caymankind in-flight experience, which includes free Rum Punch. We look forward to welcoming new and returning visitors from the Mile High City with our special introductory roundtrip airfares starting from US$396 plus taxes.”

Currently, Denver ranks as the second-largest U.S. market without nonstop service to an island in the Caribbean, with demand reaching 650 passengers per day. Additionally, Denver is the largest U.S. market without nonstop service to Grand Cayman with nearly 250 passengers a week traveling to this tropical destination. Travel demand between Denver and Grand Cayman is strong, recording more than 10 percent growth over the past year.

“We are delighted to welcome our newest airline Cayman Airways to DEN as they provide nonstop service to the Caribbean,” said DEN CEO Kim Day. “This will be a great option for our large Scuba diving population as well as for Coloradoans just looking for a way to explore the Cayman Islands and relax on the beach.”

With the addition of the flights to Grand Cayman, DEN will be served by 24 airlines, including 11 foreign-flag carriers, that provide service to 26 international destinations in 12 countries, and more than 200 total nonstop destinations.

About Cayman Airways

As the National Airline of the Cayman Islands since 1968, Cayman Airways has been connecting the Cayman Islands with the world for 50 years, providing regular nonstop service between Grand Cayman and: Miami and Tampa, Florida; New York, New York; Kingston and Montego Bay, Jamaica; Havana, Cuba; and La Ceiba and Roatan, Honduras. Nonstop flights are also offered seasonally between Grand Cayman and Chicago, Illinois, as well as Denver, Colorado which launches in March 2019. An ongoing Fleet Modernization Plan will see the airline’s current three Boeing 737-300 jet aircraft replaced with brand new Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets, making it the youngest fleet in the region by 2020, and the first in the region to operate Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. Cayman Airways Express operates multiple daily domestic flights between Grand Cayman and the Sister Islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman with two Twin Otter aircraft and two Saab 340B+ aircraft. Corporate headquarters for Cayman Airways is located at 91 Owen Roberts Drive, George Town, Grand Cayman. For more information and bookings call (345) 949-2311, 1-800-422-9626 (within the USA), or visit www.caymanairways.com.

Denver International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world. DEN is the primary economic engine for the state of Colorado, generating more than $36 billion for the region annually. For more information visit www.FlyDenver.com, check us out on YouTube and Instagram, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Sign up for DEN’s monthly newsletter Nonstop News.

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