The St Helena Airport has been given the go-ahead to start commercial flight operations.
South African construction firm Basil Read was, in November 2011, awarded the contract to design, build and operate the airport on the remote island of St Helena, a British territory 2 300 km north-west of Walvis Bay.
The £300-million project involved the construction of a 1 850 m concrete runway, a 3 500 m2 airport terminal and other associated infrastructure, such as access roads, bulk fuel installations, water supplies and aerodrome ground lighting, besides others.
Construction started in 2012 and work was expected to continue into late 2017 when additional works at the island’s bulk fuel installation in Rupert’s Bay would be completed.
Basil Read, which was responsible for airport operations until 2026, on Thursday pointed out that some windshear problems were being experienced from the northerly approach and that the St Helena government was reviewing various options.
The date for the official inauguration flight would still be decided.
The project was undertaken on behalf of the St Helena government and funded by the British government’s Department for International Development.