St. Helena-2
It's a poor place - everyone is trying to get in on the act and stake out their patch
As one whose taxes paid a substantial price for this place in an opposite hemisphere, I am getting more than a little fed up with these constant obstructions being put in the way. It's a shame that you can't just roll airport runways up and take them away like a carpet if the messing about and lack of positive thinking goes on for ever. There are plenty of other places who would have welcomed such a runway, all those navaids, and certainly many places who would welcome such a grand terminal.
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Just to interrupt the flow of err... opinions towards Saints... isn't the airport being managed by South Africans for precisely the reason that they don't have experience of managing an airport?
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I've heard that St Helena is not an easy place to do business if you are from outside...... to quote a saying about a N Ireland PM in the '60's
"He was born in Ballybog; many wise men have come from there and the wiser they've been the sooner they've come....."
But in this case many of the issues seem to be people in London applying standards that would grace LHR to what is a back country airstrip.............
"He was born in Ballybog; many wise men have come from there and the wiser they've been the sooner they've come....."
But in this case many of the issues seem to be people in London applying standards that would grace LHR to what is a back country airstrip.............
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I think he meant is it actually operating to schedule ...
and maybe what do the load factors look like.....
After all the buggering around I expect it will take awhile to build up custom - the sort of people who can afford the trip often plan months if not years in advance
and maybe what do the load factors look like.....
After all the buggering around I expect it will take awhile to build up custom - the sort of people who can afford the trip often plan months if not years in advance
Voyages Jules Verne Holidays in London are now offering package holiday series with a week on St Helena -
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
https://www.conservativehome.com/int...-visitors.html
Lord Ashcroft: More woe for St Helena. New figures reveal that its airport has failed to bring an influx of visitors
Lord Ashcroft: More woe for St Helena. New figures reveal that its airport has failed to bring an influx of visitors
Well that's about 116 a week - I don't have the numbers to hand but that's probably the same as non-military arrivals by air in the Falkland Islands or similar overall. From the article about 70% are tourists - which isn't too bad
There's always a market for adventure tourism, or people ticking off remote spots from their bucket list - and these are well heeled generally - I think TH FI reckon every tourist who arrives by cruise ship kicks in £ 18 a head where by air it's £1400 a head plus of course it keeps the airport open for all the other possible uses
What was criminal was building the terminal to LHR T5 standards for a few flights a month
There's always a market for adventure tourism, or people ticking off remote spots from their bucket list - and these are well heeled generally - I think TH FI reckon every tourist who arrives by cruise ship kicks in £ 18 a head where by air it's £1400 a head plus of course it keeps the airport open for all the other possible uses
What was criminal was building the terminal to LHR T5 standards for a few flights a month
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What was he expecting? The St. Helena would be the new Magalluf once an airport was built? It will always be a niche-niche-niche tourist destination, with or without an airport.
2,807 in 6 months, compared to 2,034 by sea in 2014. Should come as no surprise actually, the Embraer 190 only comes once a week and with 95 seats that makes just under 2,500 if at 100% load factor, it's probably quite a bit less. Once a month it goes on to Ascension and back, principally for the Saints working there to go to/fro, which will add to the figures.
You do indeed have to question the oversize terminal. From casual views the building looks larger than the terminal at London City, which processes that number of arrivals in a two hours. A couple of Portakabins would have surely sufficed.
You do indeed have to question the oversize terminal. From casual views the building looks larger than the terminal at London City, which processes that number of arrivals in a two hours. A couple of Portakabins would have surely sufficed.
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This money came out of the overseas aid budget, the same budget that gives money to the Indians despite them having a space budget. If the money has to be spent I would rather see a British dependency get it than India.
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Perhaps in a similar vein to the St. Pierre - Paris flights? https://www.independent.co.uk/travel...-a8373811.html
The runway at St. Helena is longer but could the wind sheer issue may be the bigger problem. I imagine a 737-700 would still need to stopover but could perhaps stop in Accra on the way?
The runway at St. Helena is longer but could the wind sheer issue may be the bigger problem. I imagine a 737-700 would still need to stopover but could perhaps stop in Accra on the way?
I don't see what problem the SA stopover is, apart from it being better done at Cape Town rather than Jo'burg (where many tourists arrive anyway). The comparable distance offshore Galapagos Islands in the Pacific have multiple daily tourist jet flights from Guayaquil in Ecuador, far less accessible than Jo'burg, yet seem to manage quite straightforwardly for European tourists.
If you don't want to stop over in Jo'burg the Saturday departure connects quite nicely with incoming European overnight flights, and when it gets back the same applies with the evening departures back to Europe. It's well under 24 hours from London to St Helena.
Apart from this being a poor attitude to UK public spending, the money was almost wholly spent with a South African contractor with SA labour and materials.
If you don't want to stop over in Jo'burg the Saturday departure connects quite nicely with incoming European overnight flights, and when it gets back the same applies with the evening departures back to Europe. It's well under 24 hours from London to St Helena.
This money came out of the overseas aid budget, the same budget that gives money to the Indians despite them having a space budget. If the money has to be spent I would rather see a British dependency get it than India
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Short-sighted and a simplistic Daily Mail argument. Aid = investment, investment = trade. You could give money straight to your family rather than spend it on dining a client, but if the client continues doing business with you that leaves you with even more cash for the things you want.
