Extract from recent St Helena Economic Development Committee minutes:
"Items discussed with the Airport Contracts Manager were charter flights & operations and the Open Skies Policy. The Air Access Office and the Airport are fully committed to accepting and assisting developing charter flights & operations subject to the Prior Permission Requirements for the Category C operations being met and the granting of a Flight Operations Permit by the Governor.
There have been several such operations in the 18 months the Airport has been operational.
Due to the stringent Extended Twin Operations Performance (ETOPS) requirements, which requires sterilisation of the Airport and extended airspace for long periods of time, only one ETOPS flight can currently be accepted on any one day. The latter does not apply to 3 and 4 engine aircraft.
As explained in the charter flights & operations paragraph above, the Air Access Office and the Airport will accept, subject to any operational condition, any aircraft capable of operating into and out of St Helena. This, however, is not the same as Open Skies that Europe, the UK and United States have. In reality, at this moment in time, St Helena could not achieve Open Sky Status since it is an Overseas Territory (OT) and subject to the regulations that apply thereto. It would be dependent on the UK Department for Transport (DfT), as the ‘parent’ sponsor to negotiate bi-lateral rights between two points. Additionally, St Helena is not a signatory state, nor can it be, to the ICAO Chicago Convection. We rely on the DfT to represent all the OTs at ICAO.
However, some OTs, like Bermuda and Turks & Caicos, have formed their own Directorates of Civil Aviation. This brings greater independence and the ability to formulate one’s own Civil Aviation Regulations. Doing as above is not a cheap process, is lengthy and will, for several years, require the buying in of appropriate skills, experience and expertise. An aircraft registry such as in Bermuda and Jersey and Guernsey in the Channel Islands can be very lucrative, but the costs, timescale and workload involved cannot be underestimated."
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