Announcement by Atlantic Star 31 October
Even before St. Helena Government announced the delay of the opening of the airport, on 31 October Atlantic Star had announced the following:
We regretfully inform you of a delay to commencement of ticket sales, originally planned for Monday. The reasons for the delay are complex, and in the spirit of maintaining open and honest communications we will share them with you.
In our ongoing dialogue with the Airport Access Team at SHG it has been brought to our attention a regulation that lies within the Air Navigation Order pertaining to the British Overseas Territories requiring us to have a specific Permission to go on sale. The team at SHG highlighted this to us this week and we are grateful to them for doing so. In no way are SHG trying to prevent Atlantic Star from operating from the UK to St. Helena but they are, quite rightly, making sure that we operate on a firm regulatory footing.
The specific regulation which we need to satisfy arises from the fact that we are not using a British carrier to operate the flights; TUI-fly will be using an aircraft operated by TUI Netherlands, registered in Holland. The aviation legislation that covers the British Overseas Territories is very unusual in that in certain areas it makes a distinction between British and non-British carriers. Almost all European aviation related legislation applies Europe-wide and carriers that are accredited in any one country share rights across all countries. Previously, when intending to use Titan Airways, the particular regulation did not apply, and the implications of using a replacement Dutch carrier were in this area overlooked. Atlantic Star take full responsibility for this oversight, it is our mistake, certainly not a mistake by SHG or TUI-fly.