The St Helena Government has announced that St Helena Airport has been downgraded from Category 6 following a recent technical assessment.
The airport, which acts as the primary route in and out of the island, has received the downgrade due to ‘fixed international safety requirements and a lack of confidence in the operational readiness of the fire tenders’ – meaning it cannot safely support standard flight operations at this time.
All Airlink flights have now been cancelled until the issue is resolved, with officials stating that they ‘may resume’ from 20 February at the earliest.
The St Helena Government is now assessing all future flights, and has stated it is now actively working to confirm whether medical evacuation flights will be affected.
The closure has been declared as a Major Incident, with the Chief Secretary assuming control as Gold Commander and directing the response to the incident through a specific Gold Command group consisting of key stakeholders, whilst the Chief Secretary continues to keep the Executive Council informed and ensure public messaging is updated.
Operational contact points are expected to be shared as soon as possible.
