St Helena is a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean, 2000 km from the nearest landmass. Before the opening of the airport, the island was only reachable by sea – with the RMS St Helena running infrequent 5 day voyages from Cape Town – making it one of the most remotely populated places on earth.

Completed in 2015, the airport was denied operation when in May 2016 Air Safety Support International (ASSI) reported concerns regarding air turbulence and wind shear. The airport did eventually open later that year, but only smaller aircraft currently operate due to on-going concerns.

The airport was something of a controversial project; funded by the UK Department for International Development, it was initially criticised by the media and they dubbed it “The Most Useless Airport in the World”…