The Cayman Islands was the venue for a special Airport Executives Conference on Friday 9th November at the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort.

Delegates from around the world came together to discuss the frightening subject of hostage. The more down to earth subjects were also on board and these included certification to redevelopment, safety, construction and traffic.

Speakers included Jeremy Jackson, chief executive officer of the Cayman Islands Airports Authority, Cayman Islands Premier, Hon. McKeeva Bush and Richard Arch of the Cayman Islands Airports Authority.

Mr Arch noted that the event coincided with 60 years of land-based aviation in the Cayman Islands.

In celebration of these 60 years of aviation the Cayman Islands Airport Authority commemorated aviation pioneers Linton Tibbetts and Burke Ryan. Mr. Ryan started Red Carpet, a former airline based in Tampa that opened up Cayman Brac tourism.

At the Remembrance Day Services held on Sunday 11th November at Elmslie United Church the names of the crew and passengers of the fateful plane crash in Jamaica scheduled to fly to Cayman, which killed Owen Roberts as well as five Caymanians in 1953 were read out.

In the Cayman Airways Magazine there is an article by Shurna Robbins that says:

Those who believe aviation history in the Cayman Islands to be dull should think again. In World War II, the U.S. flew sailors in PBY Catalinas as part of defence operations against German submarines. In 1961, four American fighter jets loaded with bombs, machine guns and riddled with bullets landed on the island. The pilots and crew were part of the failed CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba.

Other historical moments include Wing Commander Owen Roberts negotiating with London for seed money to build the first runway in 1952. A few years later in Grand Cayman, volunteers hacked out a 1,200-foot airstrip, and levelled it with a heavy roller borrowed from Jamaica. Completed in 1955, Cayman Brac named their airport Gerrard-Smith. Then in 1962, Little Cayman built a small grass airfield on private land, naming it Edward Bodden Airfield.

British West Indies Airways was the first airline to establish regular jet service with a Boeing 727-100 in 1966. In 1968, Cayman Islands government partnered with LACSA to reorganise Cayman Brac Airways to form the national airline Cayman Airways.

With guaranteed service to and from the islands, tourism and economic development flourished, laying the groundwork to attracting more commercial airlines. A telling moment occurred for tourism in 1984, when the British Airways Concorde supersonic jet flew into Grand Cayman.

Over the decades, several airlines established routes to the Cayman Islands from around the world including British West Indies Airways, Pan Am, Eastern, Air Jamaica, British Caledonian, LACSA and Southern Airways. And through it all, Cayman Airways has been there to serve the people of the Cayman Islands.