Five years behind schedule, an airport attacked by critics as the 'world's most useless' has opened atop a hill on the tiny island of St. Helena, mostly known to the world as the site of Napoleon's exile and death.
The nearly $375 million facility will allow airplanes to replace the twice-a-month 6-day voyage from Cape Town on the RMS St. Helena, a journey that can cost up to $5000 per passenger. The ship will make its final voyage in February.
The high costs for the airport involve immense engineering tasks, clear in the above photo, and the delays included not only geological concerns but the need to find a consistently safe approach to the field with high and often shifting winds.
The justification for the airport's cost has been both an improvement in supply and movement for the 4,500 islanders, and the hope that its struggling economy will now be bolstered by an increase in tourism. To meet tourism needs, a 30-room luxury hotel will open this week to supplement a handful of existing guesthouses.
Whether the effort will be successful is hard to predict. The 10 mile by 5 mile island has more than 500 species of wildlife and several micro-climates, but it's a 6-hour flight away from Cape Town or Johannesburg, where the flights originate, and first you have to get to South Africa.
Fares from either city to St. Helena Cape Town. Prices are from $1056 economy to over $2000 for first class. And the airport adds: "Note that apparently only a very limited number of lower-price tickets will be available."
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