TICKETS for the historic
first commercial flight to
St Helena are expected
to go on sale by the end of
November, as soon as final
certification of the new airport
has been completed, says
Comair ceo, Erik Venter. The
first flight is scheduled for mid
to late February, he says.
The St Helena government
and Comair are in the process
of determining the final pricing
structures of the service.
Comair is contracted to
provide flights for an initial
three years, with potential
for up to two extensions of
two years each. The Comair
service will operate once a
week under the British Airways
brand with a new B737-800
to be delivered in December,
Erik says. The aircraft will
carry 120 passengers: 28
in business class and 92 in
economy class.
It will depart on Saturdays at
08h20 from Johannesburg’s
OR Tambo International
Airport and arrive at 11h30
at St Helena Airport. The
return flight will depart St
Helena at 12h30 and arrive
in Johannesburg at 18h30.
Departure and arrival times at
OR Tambo have been timed to
connect with British Airways
flights to and from Heathrow.
The flight time from
Johannesburg to St Helena is
five and a half hours and from
St Helena to Johannesburg is
four hours and 45 minutes,
the difference caused by the
prevailing winds.
Once a month, the service
will carry on from St Helena to
Ascension Island. This flight
will take about two hours,
with an overnight stay on
Ascension Island. The flight
will return on Sunday morning
to St Helena and then to
Johannesburg.
St Helena Airport has
been given the Iata airport
code HLE. According to
the St Helena government
information service, the
terminal building is scheduled
to be functional by November
but final completion of all
infrastructure is not expected
until February. The official
opening date of the airport is
May 21, 2016.
SA construction firm,
Basil Read, is building the
£250m (R5bn) airport. It
has subcontracted Lanseria
International Airport to
operate the airport for the
next 10 years in terms of
a £35m (R713m) contract.
Lanseria ceo, Gavin Sayce,
says Lanseria’s management
team has been closely
involved, from the design of
the terminal to developing
flight procedures, search
and rescue manuals and
emergency procedures,
to training the staff and
assisting with certification
requirements.
Meanwhile, the development
of a new four-star Mantis
hotel in a heritage building
in Lower Jamestown is due
to begin early next year,
with completion scheduled
towards the end of the year,
says Mantis Development
md, Craig Erasmus. The hotel
will have 32 bedrooms, a
restaurant and bar.
At the moment, the island
has 150 tourist beds (a
small hotel, guesthouses and
self-catering, all of varying
standards), of which 80 beds
are serviced with en-suite
facilities, says Susan O’Bey,
Enterprise St Helena (ESH)
deputy ce for economic
development.
“It is expected that
passenger numbers will be
somewhere around 5 000
during the first full year of
air service. Assuming that
60% of these visitors will be
tourists or business visitors,
then around 54 people would
potentially be seeking hotel
accommodation on a weekly
basis.” To meet the shortfall,
a gradual expansion of rooms
is planned, including another
accommodation/leisure
development scheduled to
open in Longwood in 2016.
Susan says ESH is also
promoting uptake of a Local
Accommodation Enhancement
Scheme, exploring ways to
increase self-catering options
and targeting potential
investors to develop tourist
accommodation.
ESH, for the past year,
has been working with local
accommodation providers to
implement accommodation
quality standards. “To date,
20 of the 33 establishments
listed with the tourist office
are participating. These
establishments are being
assessed with a view to them
implementing changes, which
will ensure that they meet the
minimum criteria in 2016/17.
A similar programme is being
rolled out to include food and
beverage establishments and
taxis,” she says.
