CAL Express Service to Sister Islands growing

CAL Express General Manager Thom Guyton
welcomes passengers on board

CAL Express Operations Manager Lucy Scott

Friday,  February 3, 2006

As the only airline to service Little Cayman and offer daily flights to Cayman Brac, Cayman Airways Express Service is getting busier as traffic to the two smaller Islands increases.

“Christmas time this year was crazy,” said CAL Express Operations Manager Lucy Scott. She explained that the airline jumped from its usual schedule of four flights per day to six, during this, the traditional high season for those Islands. 

“Everyone is running from the cold,” she said. However, traveling to and from Cayman Brac and Little Cayman does not appear to be slowing down much over the summer season. Ms Scott’s role is to monitor flights on a daily basis and determine the need for extra sections. 

Their schedule of six flights seven days per week can increase to nine, which happens quite often, especially at weekends since Saturday is the turnover day for guests at most of the resorts, she said.

The service has one primary aircraft and second back-up when those extra flights are needed. When there is an event on Cayman Brac, such as weddings and funerals, they are very busy.

Ms Scott is currently in the process of looking at the summer schedule, which will take effect next April. These are looking very good, and it already seems as though they will have to maintain six flights on most days.

This projection does not take into account the domestic bookings that are generally made on short notice, so the chances are that the six flights per day will continue, apart from the necessary scheduled maintenance days.

Ms Scott’s organizational skills are put to the test each year when a big dive group of over one hundred doctors make their annual trip to Little Cayman. 

The logistics of this operation entail getting every guest into Little Cayman in one day, and the fact that they are able to do this brings a lot of business to the Island that would otherwise go elsewhere, she said.

Ms Scott has worked with the organizer Helen Davis for the last decade, and in the past they have come in November. This year, the group is arriving in June and will stay, as they do each time, at the Little Cayman Beach Resort.

As well as monitoring the flight loads, Ms Scott also supervises the Express cargo service which has increased considerably.

With six flights, there is ample room on the planes to get cargo back and forth from the Sister Islands. Business hours are 7:00 am to 4:00 pm, which they have found is convenient for customers. 

“People can get a package to us within half an hour of the many flights and we can generally get it on that flight,” she said.

With the cargo service, the Express is providing an alternative to the barge for produce, and on a weekly basis they are taking fresh food to both Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, a service that some supermarkets and restaurants are taking advantage of.

CAL Express also carries the mail and courier packages of Federal Express, DHL, UPS and Sprint, as well as newspapers to the Sister Islands.

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