Third Twin Otter For Little Cayman

[gratefulmjc]

Was poking around to see how LC's Rafael recovery was progressing and stumbled across this:

Third Twin Otter plane for Little Cayman arrives

A long-awaited third Cayman Airways' Twin Otter plane to service Little Cayman went into operation Sunday 17 Nov.

www.caymancompass.com

Was a long time in the making.

Great news.

 

[Doctorfish]

About time. The service to LC has been spotty for years.

 

[AggieDiver]

This should take away a lot of the issues they were having with just two aging planes. Glad to hear about it!

 

[Doctorfish]

I flew on the new otter last week. Beautiful and spanking clean. The ventilation system actually works.

Not sure if the plane is actually new or restored. Maybe someone with more knowledge could comment as to whether this model is still in production.

 

[tridacna]

I flew on the new otter last week. Beautiful and spanking clean. The ventilation system actually works.

Not sure if the plane is actually new or restored. Maybe someone with more knowledge could comment as to whether this model is still in production.

So are they actually running 3 planes now? Any change in schedule on Sats?

They’re still in production. Do you know the aircraft ID number? That will tell you about production date.

 

[gratefulmjc]

@Doctorfish, thanks for passing that on...great news.

The below table is from Planespotters

Looks like the newest addition to the fleet is the oldest.

Clicking the VP-CAW tail number link in the table provides more info on the new Otter including the DeH serial number (487).

If CA doesn't add more daily flights, at least they won't have to cancel half of the schedule when one of the Otters gets taken out of service for unplanned maintenance...which seems to happen more regularly than on-time departures/arrivals. Looking forward to a delay-free trip between GC and LC in mid-Feb.

 

[Doctorfish]

When I was there in Dec, there seemed to be fewer flights in the PN than prior years. Last flight GC to LC was 14.45. Missed it and had to spend the night at the Holiday Inn..

I should add the the staff at the desk at Cayman Airways were very helpful in finding us what must have been the last hotel room on island just before Christmas; as well as getting us on to the first flight across the next morning.

 

[AggieDiver]

Probably related to sunset times and the lack of lights on LC. Something to keep in mind about cancellations and the new third plane was that a great many of the cancellations happened in the fall when they would fly one at a time to Canada for maintenance during the low season. With three planes now, they will almost certainly never wind up in the situation of not having an operable otter available at all.

 

[gratefulmjc]

We flew in yesterday afternoon aboard the "new" (49 year old) Otter. Quite nice with a glass cockpit.

Pilot said one of the other two Otters is in Canada (presumably DeH) for a refurb; due back in about a month.

Here it is...with the ubiquitous Jerry.