First flight to the 'world's most useless airport'

In the unlikely event that your business should require you visit the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic, please note that you won’t have to travel by boat for five days to get there. One year after the new airport of the island was opened, the first commercial flight has finally arrived.

St Helena is a very remote island, 1,200 miles (1,900 km) west of the African nation of Angola. The only way to St. Helena used to be a five-night voyage from Cape Town aboard the RMS St. Helena, a British postal ship. The island, a British colony since 1658, finally got its airport in 2016. The spectacular runway was built on top of a valley filled in with 8 million cubic meters of rock – an investment of 285 million pounds by the British government.

Business Insider reports that the runway and terminal were ready to use, “but the official opening was pushed back another year after test flights were buffeted by wicked cross-winds, making it unsafe for large aircraft to use.” Many condemned the investment this ‘white elephant’, also dubbed "the world’s most useless airport”.

The airport will receive regular flights from now on, from Johannesburg. To deal with the risk of wind-shear, the numbers of passengers will be limited. The inaugural plane had room for 100 but only 68 on board due to weight restrictions.

Further reading on businessinsider.com