A further 19 flights will now be available for the UK overseas territory of St Helena during the peak summer season from December 2018 to April 2019.
The additional flights are to be added to the SA Airlink schedule serving St Helena for the five-month period, marking the first anniversary since the service was launched.
The Tuesday flights will be in addition to the scheduled service to St Helena from Johannesburg that operates each Saturday.
“These additional flights are an incredibly positive step for tourism as we look ahead to the first anniversary of the service launching,” said Helena Bennett, director of Tourism for St Helena.
“Visitors will now have the option of three, four, seven and ten-night stays – or indeed longer – on St Helena, affording more opportunities to enjoy all the wonders available.
“Whether that’s ticking off the 21 Post Box Walks, swimming with whale sharks, uncovering our amazing heritage or discovering the fascinating endemics.”
St Helena Government and Airlink have observed a significant number of advance bookings for the Christmas/summer period on St Helena.
Some flights in December 2018 and January 2019 are already near to fully booked.
The inaugural commercial flight landed at St Helena Airport in October last year.
This is the first step in growing the successful air access service.
Whilst the expectation is that the 19 additional flights will be in place for 2019/20 and beyond, the need for further amendments to the scheduled service will be kept under regular review.
An additional flight is also planned to Ascension Island in December 2018 and again in January 2019 to meet anticipated demand during the peak period.