Another major milestone for St Helena Airport was achieved yesterday afternoon, Tuesday 10 May 2016, when Air Safety Support International (ASSI) issued an Aerodrome Certificate to St Helena Airport – having been satisfied that the Airport infrastructure, aviation security measures and air traffic control service complies with international aviation safety and security standards. This follows a final inspection of the Airport by an ASSI team last month.
Airport Certification is a significant achievement for any airport and even more so for a brand new airport. But it is an ongoing process. St Helena’s first Aerodrome Certificate is valid until 9 November 2016, at which point the Airport will need to be re-certified.
Airport Certification from ASSI and operational readiness are parallel processes – so wind shear and turbulence mitigation is a separate issue which does not affect the certification of St Helena Airport.
The commencement of flights is an operational readiness issue. Work is continuing in parallel on operational readiness at St Helena Airport, including the work that is now underway to manage issues of turbulence and wind shear experienced by the Comair Implementation Flight.