The £300m airport that island can’t afford to use
FLIGHTS are finally ready to land on remote St Helena – but the air tickets are unaffordable for the very islanders for whom the long-troubled airstrip was built at a cost of £300 million to the British taxpayer.
One of the most controversial projects in the chequered history of UK foreign aid, the airstrip had been repeatedly delayed since it was planned more than a decade ago.
It had been feared the runway would never be operational, but flights – by South African carrier SA Airlink – begin later this month.
However, residents have been horrified to learn that a return ticket to Ascension Island – where 500 St Helenians work on the UK military base – will cost £845 per person, a vast sum for a territory where the average annual income is £7,000. There is no discount for children.
Until now, travel between the two islands – 800 miles apart in the South Atlantic ocean – required a journey on one of the last Royal Mail ships, taking several days and costing thousands of pounds for a family.
Islanders hoped that the much vaunted ‘air bridge’ would make things both easier and cheaper.
By contrast, a tourist flight with South African Airways between Johannesburg and St Helena will cost slightly less, even though the distance is far greater – more than 2,000 miles.
A family of four flying return from St Helena to Ascension Island would pay £3,400. The same group flying one-way from St Helena to London would pay £2,745.
One outraged St Helenian said: ‘Why isn’t there a half-price fare for children? It’s horrendous knowing we can travel to Europe for half that price. No way we can just up and travel home to see the family.’
St Helena is directly ruled from London through a governor and is a British Overseas Territory – a designation given to former colonies that did not seek independence.
Sources within the Foreign & Commonwealth Office said they did not ‘recognise the outrage’. An official spokesman told The Mail on Sunday that employers cover travel costs.