Carrier scores island touchdown

History was made last
Saturday (October 14) when
the first commercial flight,
an SA Airlink Embraer E190-
100IGW ETOPS, landed at
the St Helena Airport. Direct
flights are scheduled between
Johannesburg and Cape Town
every Saturday.
SA Airlink won the St
Helena government contract
to run a weekly flight service
to St Helena because it has jets
small enough to properly use
the runway where the wind
shear makes it impractical
for anything bigger than the
Embraer E190.
The scheduled 2016 airport
opening was pushed back
another year after test flights
were buffeted by wicked crosswinds,
making it unsafe for
large aircraft to use.
Because of this, the British
press has been quick to dub
St Helena the “world’s most
useless airport”, noting that
more flights will have to
be added if the airport is to
be deemed a success. The
airport was built with just
over US$300-million funding
from the United Kingdom
Department for International
Development (Dfid).