Cayman Airways will resume service to Denver International Airport (DEN) at the end of February. Flights will operate once per week on Saturdays through early August. Using a Boeing 737 MAX, Cayman Airways is restoring the route with an advanced aircraft that can easily make the longest route in its system work.
Cayman Airways coming back to Denver
Cayman Airways will restore flights to Denver starting February 26th. The airline will connect DEN with Owen Roberts International Airport (GCM) in the Cayman Islands with the following schedule (all times are local):
- KX440 departs GCM at 09:00 and arrives in DEN at 11:30
- KX441 departs DEN at 12:50 and arrives in GCM at 19:20
There is a slight shift after mid-March when Daylight Saving Time kicks in. The airline’s Boeing 737 MAX 8s seat 160 passengers across both business and economy class.
On both legs, the flight is blocked at four hours and 30 minutes. Executive Vice President of Finance and Commercial Affairs, Paul Tibbetts, stated the following on the return:
“The longest scheduled commercial flight we’ve ever operated in the airline’s history is on our Denver route, which is a unique benefit Cayman Airways provides the Cayman Islands as a tourism destination, thanks to having the newest jet fleet in the Caribbean. We look forward to welcoming new and returning visitors to Cayman from the ‘Mile High City’.”
Cayman first flew to Denver in 2019. When the airline launched the route, it noted strong demand from Denver-area divers to visit the Cayman Islands, stating that Denver was also the sixth-largest population of scuba divers in the US and was one of the fastest-growing states for scuba divers.
Cayman Airways offers both a recliner-style business class product and a standard economy offering on its MAX jets. Photograph provided courtesy of Denver International Airport
Cayman’s US network
This summer, Cayman Airways has scheduled flights to four destinations in the United States. According to data from Cirium, all the flights are scheduled to run on Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. The airline will fly to Tampa (TPA), Miami (MIA), New York (JFK), in addition to Denver.
Cayman Airways’ US network in July 2022. Photo: Cirium
It may seem interesting that the airline is only operating one flight per week between the two cities. However, the airline has noted that the average vacation duration of tourists from Denver is one week. Considering that the general recommendation is for divers to wait a day, at least before hopping on a flight, the longer vacation time allows for more opportunities for visitors to take dives and enjoy the island paradise. Saturday-only leisure flying is also relatively common in the US market, and over the summer, leisure travelers traditionally show an interest in taking some longer-term holidays.
Denver’s gets another Caribbean connection
Denver traditionally does not see a lot of service to the Caribbean. Looking at data for July, in addition to Cayman’s service to GCM, United has scheduled weekend service to Nassau (NAS).
Cayman Airways will provide service to Denver’s second destination in the Caribbean. Photo: Boeing
The primary way to get from most US destinations to the Caribbean is via an American carrier. This includes full-service airlines like United, Delta, and American and low-cost carriers like Spirit and Frontier. However, more western destinations have to take one-stop or two-stop services to get to the Caribbean. In part because of its less-than-ideal geographic positioning as a hub to the Caribbean, Denver traditionally sees more service to places like Mexico and Central America over the Caribbean. Cayman Airways will shorten that and give passengers an opportunity to visit a new, exciting destination.
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