St Helena inaugural this week

Having won Scoop of the Year at last week's BTJAS awards evening (see in this week's issue)  Business Travel News  is in line to win it again in just under 12 month’s time.  Editor in chief Malcolm Ginsberg is one of a handful of travel writers and airline experts worldwide to be invited on the maiden scheduled flight from Johannesburg to St Helena (HLE) next Saturday 14 October.  BTN  expects to bring a full report next Monday.

BTN  has been reporting on St Helena since July 2010 and has refused to be drawn into any controversy regarding cost, wind shear or turbulence problems.  “Headline grabbing misinformation is not our style,” said Mr Ginsberg.

The island is part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha and measures 10mi x 5mi with a population of 4,534 (2016 census) in the middle of the South Atlantic 1,200 miles from Angola and 2,500 miles from Rio de Janeiro.

The airport meets the standards set by the South African Civil Aviation Authority who are the official monitors with the infrastructure approved by Air Safety Support International (ASSI).  Initially South African airline Airlink will offer a weekly return flight every Saturday.  

https://flyairlink.com

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David Starkie, United Kingdom

Perhaps Malcolm after his visit could tell us whether the terminal is suitably scaled for one rotation per week by a medium sized aircraft. Pictures please.