Harry... don't I know it but I am trying to make it as clear as I can as a Saint, as Australian citizen, as a subject of Her Majesty plus many years in military and civil flying. Read the inquiry set up under Sacha Wass QC. It is about another matter but the Lady QC lays bare how things are done and not done on St Helena. The report pulls no punches and names names. It reveals is EXACTLY what it is like to live under the administration of such misrule even right now. As Terry Pratchett says "The Leopard Cannot Change its Shorts". [Do remember that the major employer on St Helena is "the Castle" and that will give a clue as to who the Leopard is and the state if his nether garments].

I commend you also to download from Companies House anything relevant to travel to St Helena in your future plans. If say company "A" has $300M cash at bank and company "B" has 50GBP weigh up if that is significant. Your call. And do ask around the trip advisor sites.

St Helena was my home, it is beautiful and full of character [clears his throat and opens another tin of Castle]. It certainly is another world and at times another planet and perhaps another century, not even the last.

Welcome Governor Lisa Phillips. Read the Latin inscription left by Adam Grandison on Ascension it means "Think Twice, Act Once" but the actual lettering is simply "Studiose". One word but it conveys a wealth of meaning. I'll tell you what is really in plo when you have eaten it and not before! Do enjoy your tenure.

Atlantic Star Airlines Priority Club will open tomorrow
 

Atlantic Star Airlines Priority Club will open tomorrow.
It will make it clear to potential club members that they are NOT buying a ticket - they are simply joining a club and that once airport certification at St.Helena is completed their membership will give them first refusal to purchase tickets.
The charterer will be TravelPack Ltd who are ATOL bonded and have approval from UK CAA CPG for the Atlantic Star marketed charter programme. The consumer will be made aware of this fact and the contractual responsibilities it places on Travelpack at the time of booking.
The programme has had oversight from UK CAA as well as St.Helena Government and is the result of a great deal of work by Atlantic Star as marketing partner, Travelpack as charterer, Air Charter Srvice as charter broker and TUIfly NL as operator.
Those of you reading who are professional pilots will no doubt be aware of the challenges in operating to a location as isolated as "HLE" - be in no doubt that every precaution has been taken in building a safe and robust solution that meets these challenges.
To find out more visit atlanticstar
Best Regards
Richard Brown
Atlantic Star Airlines

Atlantic Star and Travelpack
 

The following can safely be said: Atlantic Star Airlines' statements have been grossly misleading:

as Atlantic Star Airlines Limited do neither hold a Tour Operator Certificate nor an Air Travel Organisers Licence. Amazing this is being tolerated or even condoned. It is now evident as per above posting this is a charter programme the company Travelpack Marketing and Leisure Services Ltd in London-Wembley (Travelpack) is offering. Travelpack is the charterer and contractual partner of passengers as well as of the operating carrier TUI Fly Netherlands.
Atlantic Star Airlines Limited is – strictly legally – only a marketing partner. This means, the authorities can only grant regulatory approval to the charterer Travelpack and the operating carrier TUI Fly Netherlands, but not Atlantic Star Airlines Limited. If something goes wrong Atlantic Star Airlines Limited cannot be held liable. Of course we wish all involved good luck but passengers clearly need to know whom they are dealing with before they book.

Well, we have to wait and see the 'small print' and 'Terms and Conditions'.of Travelpack. There could be additional ambiguities there. It is unclear if payments for the 'Priority Club' will go to Atlantic Star or Travelpack.

More about Travelpack can be found on their website, Google, Trip Advisor, Companies House and CAA .ATOL Search Results.

my!
 

We know now that the Charterer is Travelpack, who are members of ABTA and there is an ATOL bond for stranded passengers. We all have the privilege of conducting background searches and can turn to the appropriate ombudsman. But there is such a thing as hearsay and some websites fall into that category. Take care.

It may come as a surprise to some to discover that Atlantic Star is not the service provider because that is probably what we all see. So it will be TUIfly Nederland who operate the aircraft and Travelpack for the rest.

It is down to us to read the fine print. Term and conditions apply. If you do not like the deal don't fly. This is not a scheduled airline but a charter flight. There is a delightful irony in all this as I think both Mr Brown and Volare know.

Best Regards

the "E"

All the relevant authorities (UK CAA, Dutch CAA, UK DoT, St.Helena Government, ASSI) associated with oversight of these 6 flights are more than satisfied with the contractual and operational arrangements. Atlantic Star is providing the marketing, communications, branding and capital to support the venture. Travelpack will provide customer interface, ticketing and ATOL protection. TUIfly will operate the flights and are happy with the contractual arrangements contained therein.

Customers will be presented with a clear set of terms and conditions before they fly on one of these services and their rights and contractual situation will be made crystal clear.

As you know unsubstantiated innuendo produced on these pages often leaks out into the outside world and becomes dressed up as "fact' or worse still "an expert opinion". I would ask that if anyone wishes to know the facts regarding these charters, or wishes to have sight of the contracts that underpin our activities that they contact me directly and I will be more than happy to provide access to same.

Many thanks for your interest in our ambitious project to provide flights direct from the UK to St.Helena in support of the aspirations of Saints and potential visitors to this amazing island.

Best Regards

Richard Brown

Broken Biscuits
Pardon me for asking a dumb question but - would someone who was planning navaids, not have asked someone who was building the infrastructure about fencing? At some point, they would both have been looking at plans that had dotted lines to represent fences.

Atlantic Star Airlines Limited
 

From their (very) small print:

Atlantic Star is providing the marketing, communications, branding and capital to support the venture. [see Hereford united].

That does not mean ALL the capital and ALL the support. This is clearly a joint venture in which risks are shared otherwise I doubt if anything would happen at all.

Unlike scheduled transports where two or more airlines are in competition this is a charter. There are no other contenders vying for the proposed route. It us up to you the intending traveller to go or not because the only other way to get there is via South Africa. You have to weigh it all up, how much do you really want to go, how much are you willing to pay and how much loss are you willing to accept if it goes wrong.

Caveat emptor, Hobson's Choice, Buckley's or none all spring to mind. Some contributors have been helpful some less so. You have all had an airing, now vote with your wallets or spend your cash elsewhere. Enough is enough I think. The topic is airlines, airports and routes and we are straying more than slightly.

Photos in and around the terminal.
 

Please follow this link to a very good photo report by Darrin Henry ( a local photographer) on the new terminal and other buildings:

The Brand New St Helena Airport Is Amazing | What The Saints Did Next

that looks hideously overspecc'd for a couple of flights a week.......

a lot of UK airports woudl swap for that fit-out

I have a feeling that this is another of `Call me Dave`s` grandiose overseas projects :ugh:

The Terminal Building looks fine, the lack of passengers reminds me of a number of UK regional airports during the winter months. Who is going to foot the ever increasing annual bill to keep the airport operational?

Third round of calibration flights and ASSI expected this weekend.

That's the problem with new airports: by the time they open they are already too small. Darrin is right: with departing Saints escorted to the airport by family members and friends the terminal could quickly be overcrowded already :-)

This is not just 'another' airport, it is the lifeline of a most isolated place.

Jeez..it isn`t opened yet and somebody wants an extension

paully

You certainly like your 'hitting your head against a brick wall' emotion don't you! ��

Sorry, didn`t know I`d offended you...I`ve removed it....trust that`s ok now..

First jets to land at HLE
 

See here

FIRST JET AIRCRAFT TO LAND AT ST HELENA AIRPORT « St Helena

"The one-way system used on previous flight days (to alleviate congestion in Longwood) cannot be used this time due to road building work beyond Reggie’s takeaway. An alternative system will be put in place to help manage traffic in the area, using the two parallel roads through Bottom Woods. This will be signposted and Police Officers will be on hand to assist motorists."

Awww.... bless 'em!!

More navaid info for St Helena
 

There's some more info escaped into the wild about the new airport's navaids and comms facilities. It's on the OpenAIP.net website.

There's two comm frequencies available, 119.1 for Approach and 118.2 MHz for Tower. With one flight a week I guess the same person will be manning both!

The Locator NDB is on 325 kHz, ident ST. VOR is on 113.1 MHz with co-located DME on the appropriate channel (78X), using ident SH. The localizer is on 109.3 MHz with ident HE.

There's no mention of the GBAS (GPS satellite augmentation system). This should have a VHF frequency allocated to it to carry the GPS correction signals to the aircraft. Perhaps ASSI are not going to certify this initially - possibly because they don't have any experience of such systems under their jurisdiction (and, of course, it wasn't invented here!).

It's interesting that now the VOR and DME are located roughly mid-runway the DME will be able to provide good distance to run info for the LOC/DME and VOR/DME approaches to runway 20, and also the possibility of an NDB/DME approach to runway 02 (the latter non-precision). The previous location of the VOR/DME next to Bradley's camp was inappropriate for this.

I agree with the comments above - Darrin Henry's pictures of the terminal show quite a plush arrangement. I guess you just can't downsize an airport that much even though it's only handling one or two flights a week. The massive earthworks cost to shift 8 million cu metres of rock to make the runway puts all the other expenditure into a relatively lower percentage, I should think.

BB

Most helpful. I have all the documents issued at the tender stage when the offset ILS was favoured. The argument against a centrally placed DVOR was anomalous propagation. The Bear's Back on Ascension springs to mind though the geology differs.

There is a ridge from Gregory's Battery through Cox's Battery and Turk's Cap; another is the feature of the Barn and the Haystack. So the offset ILS got the vote but the recce flight blew that plan apart so the chosen locations might look better to a casual eye but the fears and concerns of geology, terrain and anomalous propagation are still there.

As to the silence on "Smart Path" ASSI has left the matter open in the usual delightful way of mandarin-speak of "this time, next time, sometime, never". Shades of Norfolk Island! As and when it happens is down to ASSI/Honeywell.

Meanwhile what of EGSS-LFPO-FOOL-FHSH? I heard a lot about that behind the scenes at Paris and Farnborough a while back. Cash in on the French Connection with Napoleon.