Flights to Little Cayman are usually a little more expensive than to Cayman Brac, here's the reason!
https://cnslocallife.com/2018/03/querying-cost-flight-little-cayman/
Querying cost of flight to Little Cayman
Cayman News | 05/03/2018
Ask Auntie, CNS Local Life, Caymanian
Please find out why Cayman Airways Express Service charges more to fly to Little Cayman than to Cayman Brac. As far I know, Grand Cayman to Little Cayman is a shorter distance, and Cayman Airways does not pay any landing fees for Little Cayman but do pay for Cayman Brac (or is supposed to).
Auntie’s answer:
It may have taken some time, but I have managed to get the information you requested. An official with Cayman Airways explained that there were three main reasons why the airfare from Grand Cayman to Little Cayman is higher than to Cayman Brac.
The first two causes have to do with the aircraft used on those routes. Most of the passengers between Grand Cayman to Cayman Brac are flown on the Saab 340B+, “which inherently has a lower cost of operation (per seat) than the de Havilland Twin Otter aircraft used for all Little Cayman operations”.
And, fair enough, this lower cost translates into lower airfares for the Grand Cayman to Cayman Brac flights. In case you’re thinking that the airline should use a more fuel-efficient plane, “the Edward Bodden Airfield in Little Cayman is not configured, equipped or certified to accept any aircraft larger than” the aforementioned Twin Otters.
In addition, I was told that these smaller aircraft on the Little Cayman route have higher-than-normal operating costs because there are no re-fuelling facilities in Little Cayman. The CAL representative explained, “This means that flights between Grand Cayman and Little Cayman have to depart Grand Cayman with enough fuel for the round trip, which limits the number of seats that can be sold to recover the costs to operate the flight.”
The last reason has to do with passenger flows on the two different routes, which affect both efficiency and cost of flights. “With Little Cayman being primarily a tourist destination, passengers travel heavily in only one direction at different times of the day, while the flights in the other direction have low loads,” the official said.
More specifically, it was explained, “very few passengers travel to Little Cayman from Grand Cayman before noon”, but flights in the opposite direction have “good loads of tourists departing to Grand Cayman for onward international connections”. In the afternoons, though, the situation is reversed, meaning flights heading to Little Cayman have “good loads of arriving tourists, while the return flights back to Grand Cayman have low loads”.
And what all of that last part means regarding your question is that “to cover the costs of operating both the full and empty legs, the airfares have to be higher than would be the case if all the flights had good passenger loads in both directions”.
https://cnslocallife.com/2018/03/querying-cost-flight-little-cayman/
Querying cost of flight to Little Cayman
Cayman News | 05/03/2018
Ask Auntie, CNS Local Life, Caymanian
Please find out why Cayman Airways Express Service charges more to fly to Little Cayman than to Cayman Brac. As far I know, Grand Cayman to Little Cayman is a shorter distance, and Cayman Airways does not pay any landing fees for Little Cayman but do pay for Cayman Brac (or is supposed to).
Auntie’s answer:
It may have taken some time, but I have managed to get the information you requested. An official with Cayman Airways explained that there were three main reasons why the airfare from Grand Cayman to Little Cayman is higher than to Cayman Brac.
The first two causes have to do with the aircraft used on those routes. Most of the passengers between Grand Cayman to Cayman Brac are flown on the Saab 340B+, “which inherently has a lower cost of operation (per seat) than the de Havilland Twin Otter aircraft used for all Little Cayman operations”.
And, fair enough, this lower cost translates into lower airfares for the Grand Cayman to Cayman Brac flights. In case you’re thinking that the airline should use a more fuel-efficient plane, “the Edward Bodden Airfield in Little Cayman is not configured, equipped or certified to accept any aircraft larger than” the aforementioned Twin Otters.
In addition, I was told that these smaller aircraft on the Little Cayman route have higher-than-normal operating costs because there are no re-fuelling facilities in Little Cayman. The CAL representative explained, “This means that flights between Grand Cayman and Little Cayman have to depart Grand Cayman with enough fuel for the round trip, which limits the number of seats that can be sold to recover the costs to operate the flight.”
The last reason has to do with passenger flows on the two different routes, which affect both efficiency and cost of flights. “With Little Cayman being primarily a tourist destination, passengers travel heavily in only one direction at different times of the day, while the flights in the other direction have low loads,” the official said.
More specifically, it was explained, “very few passengers travel to Little Cayman from Grand Cayman before noon”, but flights in the opposite direction have “good loads of tourists departing to Grand Cayman for onward international connections”. In the afternoons, though, the situation is reversed, meaning flights heading to Little Cayman have “good loads of arriving tourists, while the return flights back to Grand Cayman have low loads”.
And what all of that last part means regarding your question is that “to cover the costs of operating both the full and empty legs, the airfares have to be higher than would be the case if all the flights had good passenger loads in both directions”.
