Cayman Islands looks to more direct nonstop flights from Europe and Latin America

The Cayman Islands, nestled in the Caribbean Sea and still a British Overseas Territory, are best known as a tax-free financial centre and as a vacation idyll for the financially well endowed.

But with a short runway, incapable of handling a fully laden long haul jet, the Caymans cannot reach their full touristic potential.

A long-established master plan that would see the runway extended and a new terminal built looks as if it will come to fruition during the next few years, enabling long haul flights to land and take off with full loads.

Currently the vast majority of visitors come from North America.

But with those new tourists from Europe, and possibly Latin America, would come demands for a more budget-oriented infrastructure that does not exist presently, but which is found in Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, for example.

The other matter to consider is whether now is the time to revisit the prospect of privatisation.

The halfway house that is the public-private partnership (PPP) seems to fit the demands of the Caribbean airport environment quite well, and there are examples of that not too far away.