DFID remains firmly committed to the development of air access to St. Helena, subject to rigorous environmental impact assessment and acceptable contracts. In July, all the short-listed consortia responded to the invitation to tender by indicating that, while they were keen to work on the project, they would not bid against the tender as it stood.
We have reviewed the concerns raised and will shortly issue a new notice in the Official Journal of the European Union. In doing so, we shall ensure that DFID's interest in achieving value for money is preserved.
Work on identifying an airline to operate scheduled flights is continuing in parallel with the procurement of the airport contractor.