Cayman Airways

Cayman Airways is one of those airlines you almost never see in Europe – and that is exactly what makes it exciting. With only four jets and five turboprops, it is one of the smaller national airlines that you see regularly at big airports in the USA. If you go spotting in Miami, Tampa or New York, keep an eye out for flight numbers with KX. This page shows you what is behind the airline, which aircraft it flies and how to log it cleanly.

Cayman Airways at a glance

Cayman Airways is the national airline of the Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory in the western Caribbean south of Cuba. The island group consists of Grand Cayman, where almost all residents live and the international airport is located, and the two smaller “Sister Islands” Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. For a territory of this size, having its own airline is not a given – but for the islands it is the most important link to the outside world and to each other.

Cayman Airways was founded on August 7, 1968. The groundwork was laid by the government of the Cayman Islands, which at the time took over 51 percent of Cayman Brac Airways from the Costa Rican airline LACSA. Just a few months later the first international route started: from Grand Cayman to Kingston in Jamaica. In December 1977 the government took over the airline completely – and nothing has changed about that to this day.

The hub is Owen Roberts International Airport (GCM) in George Town on Grand Cayman. The airline’s administration is also located there. By its own account, Cayman Airways employs just under 400 people. The airline does not belong to an alliance.

Codes, callsign and registrations

• IATA code KX: appears in the flight number, on departure boards and tickets.
• ICAO code CAY: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on most flight trackers.
• Callsign CAYMAN: this is how the crew calls in on the radio.
• Registration VP-C or VQ-C: the prefixes for aircraft registered in the Cayman Islands.

The registration in particular is interesting for spotters. The British overseas territories use their own prefixes that begin with VP- or VQ- – for the Cayman Islands a C follows, for Bermuda a B. The Cayman Islands used to be registered under VR-C. A VP-C on the fuselage therefore tells you immediately where the aircraft comes from. How registrations are built in general is explained in the guide Understanding aircraft registrations.

The fleet: three types, nine aircraft

Cayman Airways’ fleet is manageable but versatile. According to the airline’s fact sheet, in 2026 it looks like this:

Type	Number	Operator	Use	Spotter tip
Boeing 737-8 (737 MAX 8)	4	Cayman Airways	USA, Caribbean, Central America, Cayman Brac	The airline’s only jets
De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter	3	Cayman Airways Express	Little Cayman and Cayman Brac	High-wing with fixed landing gear
Saab 340B+	2	Cayman Airways Express	Grand Cayman–Cayman Brac	Practically stays on the islands

Boeing 737-8: the backbone

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 – Cayman Airways itself speaks of the 737-8 – flies all routes outside the islands. The airline took delivery of its first aircraft at the end of November 2018. The new jets replaced the older Boeing 737-300s, which had long shaped the airline’s image.

The start was bumpy: in March 2019 authorities worldwide grounded the 737 MAX after two fatal crashes involving the type. Cayman Airways had to park its new jets for almost two years and had to cover its schedule differently during that time. Only in February 2021 did the MAXs return to scheduled service. According to Wikipedia, the aircraft are fitted with 160 seats, 16 of them in business class.

For spotters the mini fleet is a gift: with only four jets you can realistically collect the entire jet fleet of a national airline. The manufacturer is Boeing.

Twin Otter and Saab 340: Cayman Airways Express

For the domestic flights to the sister islands, the airline relies on its Express division. The DHC-6 Twin Otter from De Havilland Canada is the classic island hopper: rugged, capable of short takeoffs and with fixed landing gear. It is the airline’s only aircraft that serves Little Cayman. According to Wikipedia, the third Twin Otter joined in November 2024.

The two Saab 340B+ connect Grand Cayman with Cayman Brac. The Saab turboprops joined the fleet in the mid-2010s. The manufacturer is the Swedish group Saab, which stopped civil aircraft production long ago – all the nicer to see the type still in scheduled service.

A look back: the historical fleet

If you are interested in aviation history, you will find a remarkably colorful past at Cayman Airways. According to the airline, the first jet arrived in 1978, linked to the start of the route to Houston. In 1982 a Boeing 727-200 followed, which also brought a first class cabin on board. In the 1980s the airline flew scheduled or charter services to Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and New York, among others.

According to Wikipedia, the historical types include:

• Douglas DC-3 and DC-6 from the early years
• BAC One-Eleven as early jets
• Boeing 727-100 and 727-200
• Douglas DC-8-52
• Boeing 737-200, 737-300, 737-400 and for a time 737-800
• Hawker Siddeley 748 and Britten-Norman Trislander on short routes

Photos of these types in Cayman colors are sought-after archive subjects today. If you have old slides or prints from your travels, it is worth a look in the box.

The route network

The network is tailored to the needs of the islands: connections to the USA for tourism and business travel, plus regional routes to the Caribbean and Central America. According to the airline’s fact sheet (as of 2026), there are the following nonstop connections from Grand Cayman:

Destination	Country	Type
Miami (MIA)	USA	year-round
Tampa (TPA)	USA	year-round
New York JFK (JFK)	USA	year-round
Kingston (KIN)	Jamaica	year-round
Havana (HAV)	Cuba	year-round
La Ceiba (LCE)	Honduras	year-round
Panama City (PTY)	Panama	year-round
Denver (DEN)	USA	seasonal
Los Angeles (LAX)	USA	seasonal
Montego Bay (MBJ)	Jamaica	seasonal
Austin (AUS)	USA	seasonal, subject to approval

Add to that the domestic flights to Cayman Brac (CYB) and Little Cayman (LYB). According to the airline, Cayman Brac is also served with the 737-8, Little Cayman only with the Twin Otter.

In Panama City you share the airport with the hub of Copa Airlines, in Havana with Cubana de Aviación. Especially at smaller Caribbean airports, a Cayman 737 is a nice subject next to exotics like these.

How to recognize Cayman Airways

The most important identifying feature is the “Cayman Airways” titles on the fuselage. The brand is carried by Sir Turtle, a turtle with a flowing aviator scarf. The figure was originally a Cayman Islands motif that the tourism authority also used as a logo; for the airline the turtle got the red aviator scarf in 1978. Sir Turtle is so closely tied to the airline that even the frequent flyer program is named after him.

The choice of type also helps: if you see a 737-8 with the titles at a US airport, the matter is clear – the airline has no other jets. On the islands themselves, look for the distinctive high-wing Twin Otters and the slender Saab 340s.

Spotting Cayman Airways

In Europe you will not come across Cayman Airways in scheduled service. The good news: at several big US airports the airline is a daily or seasonal visitor, and there it is easy to plan for.

In the USA

• Miami: Miami Airport is the most obvious choice. The airline arrives here year-round. You will find tips on the spots in the article Plane spotting in Miami.
• New York JFK: At New York JFK Airport, a Cayman 737 among the widebodies of the world is an unusual subject. Plane spotting in New York helps with planning.
• Los Angeles: In season the airline also flies to Los Angeles. A well-known spot there is Imperial Hill; more in the Los Angeles plane spotting guide.
• Tampa and Denver: Cayman Airways is present here as well – Denver, however, only seasonally.

In the Cayman Islands

If you are on vacation on Grand Cayman anyway, you have the best chance at the complete fleet. All four 737-8s and the Express division’s turboprops land at Owen Roberts International Airport. According to Wikipedia, runway 08/26 is just under 2.4 kilometers long. Besides Cayman Airways you see jets of big US airlines, Canadian companies and British Airways there.

For the Twin Otter on Little Cayman, on the other hand, you almost have to get on board yourself. Flying over the Caribbean as a passenger in a Twin Otter is an experience in itself for many aviation fans.

Because the airline flies only a few rotations per day, timing is everything. Look at the schedule and live data beforehand so you are standing at the right end of the runway for the landing. How to plan for rare visitors in general is explained in the guide Spotting rare aircraft.

Cayman Airways compared with Caribbean peers

There are a few small airlines in the Caribbean that play a similar role for their islands. Bahamasair is the Bahamas’ state-owned counterpart, Caribbean Airlines the national airline of Trinidad and Tobago. Operating regionally are interCaribbean Airways from the Turks and Caicos Islands and Winair, which also relies on the Twin Otter. Historically interesting is Air Jamaica, which no longer exists.

By comparison Cayman Airways stands out with its modern, uniform jet fleet: four new 737-8s are a clear statement for an airline of this size. In October 2026 the airline also announced that it had been named “Caribbean’s Leading Airline 2026.”

Common mix-ups

• Searching the tracker for KX – there the flight mostly runs under the ICAO code CAY.
• Taking VP-C for Bermuda – Bermuda uses VP-B, the Cayman Islands VP-C.
• Logging older 737-800s as MAXs – the 737-800 flew only for a time as an interim solution; look at the engines and winglets.
• Listing Cayman Airways Express as a separate airline – it is the domestic arm of Cayman Airways, under the same brand.

Conclusion

Cayman Airways is small but a rewarding target for spotters. Four Boeing 737-8s make up the entire jet fleet, plus Twin Otters and Saab 340B+ that hardly ever leave the Cayman Islands. In Europe the airline is a phantom, but in Miami, Tampa and New York a regular visitor. If you log registration and type cleanly, you can score a rare success here: the complete jet fleet of a national airline.