enicalyth, I don't know who is the charterer. I find it very strange that Atlantic Star is not telling that potential passengers. Atlantic Stars refers to Travel Pack only as their 'ticketing agent' only but not as the charterer of the aircraft.
The charterer is the contractual partner of both the passengers and the operating carrier. The charterer is responsible for making sure passengers don't get stranded somewhere. Therefore charterers are required by law to provide protection and be bonded. If the flights are ATOL protected the name of the charterer will be included in the list of ATOL bonded operators with a reference number. Until recently I have not found Atlantic Star in that list.
http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/modalapp...n.aspx?appid=2
In the 'Sentinel' yesterday one could read the following from Atlantic Star:
CAA is not familiar with the brand new St. Helena Airport, so they are taking their time. They want to make sure that people can get back from the island if something goes wrong, but Atlantic Star are confident we will get the green light soon.
And this has absolutely nothing to do with airport certification.