The ‘secrets’ of liberalised aviation fuel

Hon Charles Clifford, Minister of Tourism, Environment, Investment and Commerce	Rolston Anglin,  Opposition Member

Friday,  March 10, 2006

The supply of aviation fuel at Owen Roberts International Airport has been liberalised, however the Opposition is questioning exactly how the process of purchasing fuel on a daily or weekly basis, at a more competitive price, will actually operate for Cayman Airways.

Speaking in the Legislative Assembly, (LA) on Thursday 6 March, Hon Charles Clifford, Minister of Tourism, Environment, Investment and Commerce said that in late 2005, the Government decided to liberalise the supply of aviation fuel at Owen Roberts International Airport and allow competition in that market.

As a consequence of that, the Cayman Islands Airports Authority granted ESSO approval to operate there. 

“Now there are two companies, Chevron (Texaco), and ESSO, there,” Mr Clifford said.

Evidently the Government views this a feather-in-the-cap move as, the Minister also revealed that “several attempts had been made over the years” for sales at the airport to be liberalised. “The last such was received in 2004,” he noted.

Indicating that this is a path along which the Government intends to keep going, Mr Clifford answered in the affirmative when asked, “Is a similar policy to be adopted at other (Cayman) airports?”

In reply, the Minister said that should request be made they would follow the policy.

“If we receive applications, the policy will apply,” he told the LA. However, Opposition Member, Rolston Anglin, questioned how this works in practice.

“Will CAL shop daily, weekly, monthly? At what time will there be discussions to decide on where the purchase should be made?” he enquired.

In reply, Mr Clifford said he was not sure and that such an area would be getting too deep into CAL operations. He therefore asked that the matter be discussed away from the microphone.

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