The government of St Helena has announced that Airlink, South Africa’s largest independent airline, is their preferred bidder to fly passengers to the island.
The government will now enter into a period of contractual negotiations with Airlink.
It is anticipated that a formal announcement will be made in the coming weeks on completion of negotiations and contract signing.
Only then will the St Helena government be able to confirm details such as the commencement date, frequency, aircraft type, the international hub and connecting airports.
St Helena is 2,000 kilometres from Africa, the nearest landmass, and boasts a variety of landscapes for tourists to discover.
Until the airport opened in mid-2016, the only scheduled way to travel to and from St Helena was aboard the Royal Mail Ship St Helena, which is likely to be decommissioned in 2018 once scheduled flights are established.