MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Sale of tickets for the commercial air service to St Helena came live this Friday

Airlink will operate a weekly service between St Helena and Johannesburg and St Helena and Cape Town. Flights will commence on Saturday, October 14.

The sale of tickets for the scheduled air service to the British Overseas Territory of St Helena went live on Friday. Airlink will operate a weekly service between St Helena and Johannesburg and St Helena and Cape Town, via the stopover at Windhoek International Airport in Namibia. Flights will commence on Saturday, October 14.

 Tickets will be available online via the Airlink website at https:/ flyairlink.com/ and through all normal IATA global distribution systems.  Passengers are advised to contact their IATA travel agent.

For those passengers that are resident on St Helena, ticket bookings can also be made via Solomon & Company (St Helena) Plc’s ‘Shipping & Travel Agency’ at the Malabar in Jamestown.

Passengers can visit the ‘Shipping & Travel Agency’ in person or can contact shipping.manager@solomons.co.sh or telephone: 22523.

Passengers should note that Airport and Government Infrastructure taxes may not initially be featured on all computerised reservations systems. This means that for a short period only it might not be possible for passengers to distinguish fares and taxes separately on their tickets; instead, passengers will see an overall cost.

Over the coming days, all computerised reservation system components of the Global Distribution System will feature these relevant taxes which will be included in ticket sale transactions accordingly.

Further information is available in the Q&A document on the Publications page of the SHG Website: http://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/publications/.

The launching of commercial regular flights between St Helena and South Africa has is a milestone of events. Six years ago in November 2011, St Helena Government signed a Design, Build and Operate (DBO) contract with Basil Read (Pty) Ltd. The contract included £201.5 million for the design and construction of the airport, an additional amount - of up to - £10 million on shared risk contingency and £35.1 million for ten years of operation.

The project aims to provide air services to St Helena, fulfilling the UK Government’s commitment to maintaining access to the Island, and provide it with a real opportunity for economic growth through tourism. Both the St Helena Government and the UK Government hope that this will lead to eventual financial self-sustainability for St Helena.