St Helena Tourism, an official agency of the South Atlantic island’s government, on Thursday welcomed the news that South African regional airline Airlink was going to increase the number of its flights from Johannesburg to the territory, during the 2023/24 Southern summer season. Currently, the carrier operates one flight to the island a week; for the next summer season, it will increase this to two a week.

“We are delighted to offer travellers to our beautiful island more flexibility and more options to tailor their trip to St Helena,” enthused St Helena government head of tourism Matthew Joshua. “We have seen a great increase in interest from the South African market to travel to St Helena, and this additional mid-weekly flight will allow us to capitalise on that demand.”

At present, Airlink’s flight operate to and from the island on Saturdays. The additional flights will be available during the period November 28 this year to the end of February next year, and will be operated on Tuesdays. This will allow visitors greater flexibility in their planning and allow them to have long weekends on St Helena.

“St Helena is a uniquely important destination in Airlink’s network and we are privileged to be able to support the island’s economy by providing the much-needed extra mid-week peak season connectivity that enables tourism, while also promoting trade and providing a vital air bridge to the world via Airlink’s main Johannesburg hub,” affirmed Airlink CEO and MD Rodger Foster. The flights will be operated using the airline’s second biggest type, the 98-seat Embraer E190.

Airlink has operated extra, mid-week, summer flights to St Helena in the past. But these had been flown from Cape Town. The airline is currently working with the South African Civil Aviation Authority to gain the required approvals that will allow the resumption of Cape Town-St Helena flights. These are currently planned to restart in 2024 and will run from November to April every year.