Owen Roberts International Airport, Grand Cayman, British West Indies

Last visited: March 2005 - Next planned visit March 2006

There may not be an abundance of aircraft at Grand Cayman, but it's thoroughly enjoyable to spot and take pictures at. I backed the rental car right up to the airport fence, stood on the trunk and took some great touchdown zone shots over the fence. All the while the police and airport authorities rode by and never said a word. Certainly different than what we've learned to be accustomed to in the States. 2004 Update: A concerned citizen or visitor did report my peering over the fence for photos this year and we were visited by the local constable. After a few minutes questioning we were left to continue and enjoy our sport. Unless someone reports you they don't bother you.

Due to the prevailing winds arrivals almost always approach from the west and land on runway 8 and depart runway 8 heading out over the North Sound. Rarely do they use runway 26, but it does happen. Occasionally even when runway 8 is active you might find a smaller aircraft make an approach and land on runway 26. This happened several times during my last trip, especially with Island Air flights. Most of the activity at GCM occurs between the hours of Noon and 3:00 p.m. Most flights arrive and depart within those three hours with a few exceptions that depart around 4:00 p.m. British Airways operates a 767 into GCM and it arrives about 5:30 p.m. on Tues., Wed., Friday and Saturday. Saturday is the busiest day with several extra flights that only operate on Saturday. 2004 Update: We were surprised to find some changes in the schedules this year. USAir has added additional flights, Delta replaced their 757 with 737 operations, United now operates one 757 flight weekly, ATA cut back to a single flight, and Air Jamaica replaced their twin-props with A321 and A320 daily flights. We also saw one Cuban flight, an AeroCaribbean Yak, on Friday late afternoon.

The interesting thing about Grand Cayman is that if you stick it out during the lulls or on the dull days when traffic isn't heaviest you might be surprised by what you see. We had several surprises in 2003 and 2004 was no different. One day we were able to photograph four aircraft from the British Antarctic Survey team. These are interesting as they are painted bright red with dark blue on the top of the wings (easily spotted against the white snow of the Antarctic). Another day we were surprised by the arrival of two "Warrior" call sign flights. Both included 4 US Army helicopters, a large twin-blade with three smaller choppers. Very interesting to watch them approach in formation and then land. And, all the while, a myriad of private jets will be coming and going for your pleasure.

Do to the east/west position of the runway and the fact that GCM is closer to the Equator you don't get the wide swings in the angle of the Sun you may be accustomed to. No matter what time you're there the Sun will always seem to be overhead and just a little to one side of the runway or the other. Of course that applies to March when I was last there.

Important! Under each sample photo you will see the lens zoom setting recorded like "400/600 mm". The first number represents the setting that the lens as physically on when the picture was taken. The second number takes into account the 1.5 multiplier factor of the Nikon D100 camera.

Just a note: Sorry about the amateur map, but I don't want a copyright infringement suit because I used a better one.