The island of St Helena is a British overseas territory that is located in the South Atlantic Ocean – more than 2,500 miles off the coast of Brazil and roughly 1,200 miles from the coast of Africa.
One of the most remote islands in the world, Saint Helena is home to fewer than 10,000 people who have largely been able to enjoy the beauty of the island themselves, largely because of the difficulty that comes from trying to get there.
Anyone who wanted to embrace the scenic beauty of the island would need to be prepared to embark on an adventure in itself, with a five-night trip on the RMS Helena – one of the last working Royal Mail ships in the world – being the main way to make the journey from South Africa.
That all looked set to change when plans were announced back in 2005 to build an airport on the island, which would not only make it easier to bring goods to the St Helena but could also open up the island to increased levels of tourists.
Work didn’t actually start for many years however as the global economic downturn took effect, although by 2016, the airport was ready to open.
Except there was a problem.
Despite investment of more than £280m in the project, the airport was deemed to be unfit for purpose after a test flight with a Boeing 737 saw the plane struggle to touch down.
In fact, it was only on the third attempt that the flight managed to touch down as the pilots battled against windshear, with the decision taken to prevent any commercial airlines from landing for safety reasons.
It meant that the airport that should have opened up the island to the rest of the world was instead little more than an expensive white elephant that wasn’t fit for purpose – something which led to residents of the island hitting out at the British government after they lost out investing in tourists who never arrived.
Nearly twelve months after ‘opening’ however, there are signs that things could be changing after the first commercial flight was able to land on the island.
With the RMS Helena out of action and unable to take on two scheduled trips, a flight from Cape Town operated by SA Airlink saw 60 paying passengers make the trip, with 48 passengers then onboard when the flight left the island to return to South Africa.
“It was a wonderful experience flying to one of the most remote islands in the world with many who had never even been on a plane before, it was a day I will always remember,” Dr Niall O’Keeffe, Chief Executive for Economic Development, Enterprise St Helena said.
“From a practical perspective it was an incredibly smooth and comfortable journey, which cut our travel time from Cape Town down from six days to seven hours.”
Although not the large planes that were originally planned, the fact that a commercial flight has now been able to land at the island would suggest that things may finally be looking up – and at a crucial time given that the Helena is due to exit service next year (having already been brought out of retirement once).
Should more flights start to follow suit, then maybe St Helena could still become an interesting alternative for a holiday overseas…