Remote St. Helena Airport serves St. Helena, a British Overseas Territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. Its population of about 4,500 is served by a weekly flight to South Africa, operated by Airlink.
What makes the airport unique is that prior to its official opening in 2016, you could only reach St. Helena by ship. Once opened, windshear issues meant that scheduled services were delayed until 14 October 2017. Since then, they have been operating quite successfully.
St. Helena Airport Documentary
A fantastic documentary is now available about St. Helena Airport. It charts the story of the airport, touching on the planning, trials and on to how things are today.
The 45 minute presentation is shot on location on the island, showing just how beautiful this remote part of the world is. Enjoyably, it does not shy away from addressing the bad press received in the beginning.
Various people responsible for the airport are interviewed, as well as some of the Saints themselves. There is also a tour of behind the scenes at the facility, which is quite interesting.
Services operate once weekly to Johannesburg and during the holidays there is an additional service to Cape Town. Hopefully demand will continue to increase, giving more benefits to those living there.
Overall Thoughts
The documentary gives a fascinating glimpse into St. Helena and the story around their airport. I remember seeing some of the press about the “useless” airport and I’ve kept following their story ever since.
An airport for a place so remote is a vital piece of infrastructure, and it is great to catch up with the story. One day I hope to visit St. Helena and of course, I’ll be flying in.
What do you think of the St. Helena Airport story? Is the documentary the first you’ve heard of it? What did you think? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image via St. Helena Tourism.
