Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Owen Roberts International Airport (MWCR/GCM) is the principal gateway to the Cayman Islands, sitting on the edge of George Town on Grand Cayman. Operated by the Cayman Islands Airports Authority and serving as the main base for Cayman Airways, it combines scheduled international jet traffic with general aviation movements on a single long hard-surfaced runway.
Owen Roberts International Airport is the main airport for the Cayman Islands, located at George Town on the island of Grand Cayman. It is owned by the Cayman Islands Government and operated by the Cayman Islands Airports Authority (CIAA), and serves as the principal hub for Cayman Airways. For a simulator pilot it offers an interesting mix of long-haul airline arrivals, regional turboprop and jet traffic, and general aviation operations, all funnelled onto a single runway close to the island's main town and marine harbour.
The airport lies at George Town on Grand Cayman, within the Cayman Islands, and is one of the territory's two main ports of entry. It is served by Grand Cayman Approach and a control tower, with Kingston Centre providing area radar service in the surrounding airspace, indicating that the field sits within controlled airspace typical of a busy international aerodrome. It is located close to the town centre and the rental car district on the edge of George Town.
The airport has a single physical runway, 08/26, of hard surface construction and lit for night operations. The published length from threshold 08 is 7,874 ft, while the length available from threshold 26 is 7,448 ft. There is no ILS installed at the field.
Aerodrome frequency (A/D) is 120.2 MHz, associated with Grand Cayman Approach. The ATIS broadcasts on 132.35 MHz. Kingston Centre provides area control on 128.1 MHz. Ground movements are handled on 121.9 MHz, and the tower frequency is 118 MHz. A VOR/DME (ident GCM) is sited approximately 0.25 nautical miles short of the threshold of Runway 08, providing a useful navigation aid for arrivals (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Roberts_International_Airport).
The airport takes its name from Wing Commander Owen Roberts, a Royal Air Force veteran of the Second World War who, after retiring, founded Caribbean International Airways (CIA) and by 1950 had established regular air links between Grand Cayman, Tampa, Kingston and British Honduras. Before the Grand Cayman airstrip was completed, CIA operated weekly seaplane services using Consolidated PBY Catalina amphibians. Construction of an official airstrip on Grand Cayman began in 1952, part of a wider programme to build airfields on all three Cayman Islands, producing a 5,000 ft runway and a terminal building. Roberts had acquired two Lockheed Lodestar airliners to serve the new route, but was killed, along with twelve others, when the Lodestar he was piloting crashed on takeoff from Palisadoes Airport in Kingston on 10 April 1953, the day intended for CIA's inaugural flight to Grand Cayman. The airport was subsequently named in his honour, and commercial operations at George Town began in 1952 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Roberts_International_Airport).
Owen Roberts International Airport remains the main gateway linking the Cayman Islands to the wider world and is the principal base for Cayman Airways, with scheduled services also operated by carriers including British Airways, Air Canada, American Airlines, Delta, JetBlue, United and WestJet. The Cayman Islands Airports Authority, which also operates Charles Kirkconnell International Airport on Cayman Brac, has carried out phased terminal and runway works in recent years, including an extension to Runway 08, and has published a longer-term master plan for further development of the airport. The airport continues to combine international airline operations with general aviation traffic through George Town (https://www.caymanairports.com/, https://www.caymanairports.com/ceos-welcome/about-us/overview-of-owen-roberts-international-airport/).