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The Cayman Islands gets its own exclusive jet service

The Cayman Islands gets its own exclusive jet service

A Cayman Islands based airline is planning to run exclusive scheduled flights connecting to the Caribbean and Latin America.

BlueSky Airlines have launched an “executive Jet” service, which is aimed at the high-end clients of the world. The service will allow customers to take day trips on private planes to meetings in the region, although the service is marketed more towards businessmen & woman, anyone can use the service.

The next phase of the BlueSky expansion will be commercial routes, which will bypass the U.S, linking Grand Cayman to the Caribbean Islands, Central and South America.

The airline’s directors say they are still finalizing regulatory approvals and other details before announcing a timeline for the opening of the new routes.

BlueSky plan to use 70 seater, Dash 8 Q400 aircrafts, which can reach speeds up to 435 miles-an-hour.

Aviation expert Edward Jerrard, who is a consultant for the company, said it would complement rather than compete with Cayman Airways, bringing in passengers from around the region who could then access the national airline’s routes to destinations like Cuba and New York.

Mr. Jerrard said the company aimed to exploit a gap in the market for travelers looking to skip the headache of traveling through Miami and connect to Latin America and beyond. He said it would also link in with other airlines within the Caribbean to facilitate smoother travel within the region.

“The whole idea is a smaller airline, smaller fuel-efficient aircraft that will provide that network of connections between eastern Caribbean, western Caribbean and Latin America for both passengers and product.

“The key is bypassing Miami. For a lot of people with visa problems, for example, the issue of getting to somewhere else in the Caribbean is a nightmare at the moment.

“For us, the market is the entire Caribbean from BVI west; we are looking at the whole region, not just one territory.”

He said the connections to central and South America would open up the possibility of traveling to Australia or Europe without having to connect through the U.S.

“This will aim to make Cayman more in touch with the world,” Mr. Jerrard said.

“We have 150 nationalities represented on this island and pretty much one destination. This will enable a much greater penetration of the world business market and leisure market into Cayman.”

“We have carefully identified other routes to destinations commonly traveled by people moving in and out of the Cayman Islands. We have designed our offering to take advantage of large hubs in South America. If you want to fly to South Africa, why would you opt to first fly north?”

The idea of “skipping Miami” is also the concept behind BlueSky’s Executive Jet service, which has been operating quietly for the past few months ahead of a “soft launch” this week.

“Our research shows there is a market for people who need to get to these destinations quickly. At the moment, they all have to go through Miami to transfer and we all know the time taken and the problems that creates,” Mr. Jerrard said.

“Some of these business people and lawyers are charging these clients a considerable amount of money and the time taken to get there is all added to the bill.”

He said the company could get almost any aircraft for the trip at a moment’s notice. A day trip on a Learjet for five people to Jamaica would cost around $1,600 per person, he said.

“It is also for those people who want to go for a day to Cuba or go and play a round of golf in Punta Cana or Dominican Republic.”

He said the company planned further expansions, carrying cargo and organizing and planning holidays for travelers on both the private jets and the scheduled routes.

“BlueSky Holidays and BlueSky Cargo will be established to open up new sources of tourism, trade and commerce for the Cayman Islands and the wider Caribbean,” the company added in a press statement.

Source: Cayman Compass