ATLANTIC STAR AIRLINES POSTPONES ITS FIRST SERVICES

St.Helena Government has announced a delay to the official opening of St.Helena Airport. Atlantic Star Airlines (A-Star) has therefore taken the decision to postpone its first flights direct from the UK to St.Helena, scheduled for 22nd May and 5th June 2016.

The decision to postpone the inaugural services has been a very difficult one, but has been necessary amid on-going uncertainty regarding the airport certification process and issues regarding wind effects experienced on approach during the recent flights by Comair. It is the view of the team at A-Star and TUIfly that these hurdles will be overcome and that a safe scheduled service will be achieved, but not in a timescale to allow operations to commence on 22nd May. A-Star and TUIfly will continue to cooperate closely with the St.Helena Government Air Access team to achieve airport certification and to put in place appropriate measures to guarantee safe flight operations into St.Helena.

The team at A-Star appreciate that this announcement will disappoint the many passengers who reserved a place on these services by joining the A-Star Priority Club, as well as those who intended to take advantage of the service launch offers from St.Helena to the UK. We share that disappointment and were looking forward to meeting you on our first flights. Members of the Priority Club will be contacted individually over the coming days and offered the choice of a full refund or the opportunity to move their club membership and associated discount to the next set of Atlantic Star Airlines charter flights. These are due to operate on 16th and 30th October 2016.

As more information becomes available regarding airport certification and management of wind effects we will share it with you. As always you can rest assured that we remain committed to connecting the UK direct to St. Helena, but naturally we have to proceed with caution in light of the latest developments. We will only commit to flying a service when we are certain that it is completely safe to do so.

We thank you for your continued support of Atlantic Star.

Richard, Andrew and Aiden

Directors, Atlantic Star Airlines