Name of the Project
St Helena Airport development.

Location
St Helena Island.

Client
The project is being undertaken on behalf of the St Helena government and funded by the British government’s Department for International Development (DFID).

Project Description
St Helena Island is located about 1 900 km from Africa, measuring 16 km x 8 km, and is one of the world’s most remote locations, with Ascension Island more than 1 000 km away.

The project involves the construction of an airport on the island. It will feature a 1 950 m, high-quality concrete runway, with taxiways and an apron to cater for aircraft up to the size of an Airbus A320 and a Boeing 737-800; a rockfill embankment of about eight-million cubic metres, through which a 750-m-long reinforced-concrete culvert will run; a 3 500 m² airport terminal building and support infrastructure; air-traffic control systems; a bulk fuel installation for six-million litres of diesel and aviation fuel; a 14 km airport access road; and all associated logistics.

The island’s only lifeline to the outside world has been the Royal Mail Ship, the RMS St Helena, which calls regularly at the island. As a community that has no internal resources or an industry to support its economy, the British government has been providing extensive financial support for the island.

The bulk of the capital is spent on maintaining and operating the RMS St Helena. It is hoped that the new airport will address some of the socioeconomic difficulties on the island, boost the prosperity of islanders through tourism and help curb the exodus of inhabitants who are seeking work in Britain.

To assist in completing the St Helena International Airport, Basil Read chartered a massive Thai cargo vessel, the NP Glory 4, from NP Marine for 36 months to transport fuel, materials and plant to and from the island.

Jobs to be Created
Not stated.

Value
The project, funded by the DFID, was valued at £250-million, but the total value of the project for phases 1 and 2 has increased to about £285-million.

Duration
The construction of the first phase of the airport was completed in February 2016. With construction completed, the operations phase of the contract will continue in partnership with South Africa’s Lanseria Airport, in Gauteng, for a further ten years.

Latest Developments
St Helena has welcomed its first commercial flight.

There has been talk of building an airport on St Helena since the 1930s. The best site – one of the few flat spaces on the notoriously craggy island – was ruled out because of a nearby breeding ground for the wirebird, an endangered species of plover.

The runway and terminal were completed in 2016, but the official opening was postponed another year after test flights were buffeted by strong crosswinds, making it unsafe for large aircraft to use.

With Britain mired in financial austerity, the London media were quick to condemn it as a white elephant or "the world’s most useless airport”.

However, Governor of St Helena Lisa Phillips has dismissed the critics, saying that even before it accepted its first commercial flight, the airport had proved its worth in the past 18 months by allowing for several life-saving emergency medical evacuations, including a newborn child.

"I’ve seen the headlines about the world's most useless airport, but for St Helenans this has been the most useful airport. It's priceless," she told reporters after greeting them on the tarmac. 

Before the opening of the airport the only way to St Helena was a five-night voyage from Cape Town aboard the RMS St Helena.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Basil Read (designer, builder and operator); Worley Parsons (lead design and landside designs); Virtual Consulting (airside designs); KMH Architects and LYT Architects (architects); Atkins and WSP (independent certifiers); PRDW (marine designs); Lanseria Airport International (operations); Thales (AGL, Navaids – DVOR); Southern African Institute for Environmental Assessment, or SAIEA (environmental); Trotech (bulk fuel installation); BME (explosives); Ohorongo Cement (cement) and Babcock (supply and maintenance of Volvo construction equipment).

On Budget and on Time?
The airport encountered numerous setbacks and delays in its construction, as costs ballooned to £285-million.

Contact Details for Project Information
Basil Read project director Jimmy Johnston, tel +27 11 418 6325 or communications manager Jenny Smith, tel +27 11 418 6466.
Halcrow project management unit, tel +290 24258 or email Andreas.Huber@ch2m.com.
St Helena government air access office, tel +290 22494 or email tessa.roberts@sainthelena.gov.sh.
DFID, tel +44 1355 84 3132, fax +44 1355 84 4099 or email enquiry@dfid.gov.uk.