Officials Say Commercial Passenger Planes Cannot Land Safely At St Helena Airport

A new airport built on the remote island of St Helena, which is about 1,150 miles off the west coast of Africa in the South Atlantic Ocean, remains idle because it is not safe for passenger airliners to land there.

That is the assessment of the U.K. Department of International Development, which built the airport on the British overseas territory at a cost equivalent to about $403 million, according to a report from the BBC. Constant high winds at the airport make it dangerous for commercial airliners to land on the runway, which was scheduled to open in May.

The airport had been intended to help the island become more self-sufficient. But in April, the government of St Helena said that the planned May opening of the airport had been postponed indefinitely due to the safety concerns.

Currently, the only way to get to St Helena is a five-day passage on a combination passenger and freight vessel. The Royal Mail Ship St Helena, which provides the only regular service to the island, is slated for retirement next month, and the government had not intended to replace the ship.

(Image from YouTube video posted by SAMS St Helena. Aircraft landing during testing of airport systems in 2015)

FMI: http://sthelenatourism.com