Cayman Islands Approves $91 Million Airport Redevelopment Plan

Cayman Islands government officials have approved a $91 million, large-scale airport redevelopment plan to lengthen the runway, modernize the air traffic control system and build a new terminal facility at Grand Cayman’s Owen Roberts International Airport (ORIA).

The project will also undertake “runway and safety area works” at Charles Kirkconnell International Airport on sister island Cayman Brac, and revamp ORIA’s private aircraft facility, said Kenneth Bryan, the Cayman Islands tourism minister.

Approved under the territory’s Airport Master Plan, the redevelopment will “improve the safety, comfort and efficiency of [ORIA]” and Kirkconnell International Airport, Bryan said, while also supporting tourism growth across the territory.

“The tourism industry is a major contributor to our island’s economy and extending the runway will provide the ability to service long- haul carriers,” Bryan said at a May 30 media briefing. “Ultimately we’ll be able to expand into new routes.”

New flight service will translate into “increased overnight visitor spending, increased revenues for the Cayman Islands government and increased opportunities for additional airlift in Grand Cayman,” Bryan said.

The initiatives will be funded through a new $5 airport terminal fee and a $15 airport development fee. The fees will be included in passenger ticket fares charged during the project work period, expected to extend from 2024 to 2029.

The redevelopment will now proceed to the “next phases” of the process, including “public consultation, environmental impact assessment and procurement,” said Bryan.

Growth Pattern
The airport redevelopment will deliver “significant economic benefits” to the destination, Bryan said. He noted that other regional countries – and tourism competitors – have launched major airport and infrastructure programs.

“Destinations such as Anguilla Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands, Jamaica and the Turks and Caicos Islands have recognized the need for airport growth to increase their tourism sectors,” he said.

“They have either made or are in the process of making the relevant investments and incentives to position themselves for the future expansion of their tourism industry.”

He added, “With up to 25 percent of Cayman’s GDP derived from tourism, managing capacity and capability and competitiveness of our airports is a strategic imperative [we] cannot ignore.”

Bryan said an analysis of airports within the Caribbean region shows that the Cayman Islands “passenger-related fees” would be “more in line with destinations such as Jamaica and Bahamas. In other words,” he said, “we would not be pricing ourselves outside the market.”

Flying Safely
Bryan said airport safety and modernization are top priorities under the redevelopment. ORIA currently has no computerized air traffic management surveillance systems, meaning “air traffic is being controlled manually,” he said.

Bryan said safety issues at ORIA and Kirkconnell International Airport “will be rectified” under the redevelopment.

“Managing air traffic in this way is not only outdated but [it] reduces efficiencies and increases the level of safety risk,” he said.

“This particular project is going to open up many opportunities for us to be able to increase our business development,” said Rosa Harris, the Cayman Islands’ tourism director.

“Given that the travelers’ first and last impression of the Cayman Islands is influenced by the airport experience,” Harris said, “our islands require the general aviation facility to be consistent with sophisticated luxury.”