Atlantic Star to start London-St Helena charters next March

Atlantic Star Airlines says it will commence commercial operations to the island of St Helena, located roughly 2,000km off the coast of Angola in the Atlantic Ocean, in March of next year.

 With the completion of the island's airport slated for the first quarter of 2016, so Atlantic Star says its first flights from London Luton to St Helena will operate fortnightly with the inbound leg to the South Atlantic scheduled for the middle of March 2016 and the outbound to Europe slated for early April.

 "By choosing this pattern of flights resident Saints will be able to enjoy a two-week stay in England, similarly visitors to St. Helena will be able to enjoy a fortnight on the island," it said.

 Though its operational plans have yet to be confirmed, previous reports have indicated the start-up will lease a B757-200 from Icelandair (FI, Reykjavik Keflavik) subsidiary, Loftleidir Icelandic (Reykjavik Keflavik), to operate the 12-hour long flight which includes a stop-over in an as-yet-unspecified location.

 Earlier this year, the St Helena government awarded a three-year contract to Comair (South Africa) (MN, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) to ply a weekly Johannesburg O.R. Tambo-St Helena return service on-board a B737-800 beginning in 2016. The South African full-service carrier operates under a British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) franchise agreement.