St Helena ready to welcome first scheduled flights in almost two years

One of the world's remotest islands will have its connection to the outside restored when regional airline Airlink restarts flights in March.

The airline, which had been flying to St Helena, a tiny volcanic outcrop in the South Atlantic, suspended flights as the island closed its borders on March 21 2020 to protect its inhabitants from Covid-19.

“The scheduled Airlink service will recommence on Saturday, March 26 2022, with fortnightly flights between Johannesburg and St Helena and the monthly inter-island service with Ascension Island,” the airline said on Wednesday.

The carrier would introduce extra flights between the two islands at times of peak demand.

Airlink had been operating flights to the island, one of the UK's last remaining overseas territories, since November 2017 in terms of an agreement with the island's government.

The island lies roughly 2,000km off the west African coast and has one small hospital and two ventilators for its 4,439 inhabitants.

As the pandemic roiled across the globe, St Helena took extra precautions to ensure the safety of the islanders. A charter flight was dispatched from the UK in April 2020 with extra medical staff and more ventilators.

The medical personnel were billeted at an isolation centre built at Bradley’s Camp, which previously housed workers who built the airport.

Maritime traffic was halted with Lawson Henry, councillor and chairperson of the island’s economic development committee, asking yacht crews not to make the traditional call at Jamestown on their trans-Atlantic voyages.

The only exception to the rule was the supply ship MV Helena, which provides a vital lifeline to the outside world.

Almost everything St Helena needs, from food to car parts to medicine, comes on the MV Helena, which calls once a month.

UK-based charter carrier Titan Airways operated occasional flights to St Helena and Ascension to drop off or repatriate diplomatic or military personnel and transport serious medical cases for treatment in the UK.

The last Titan flight will depart the UK on March 7.

Airlink will operate a twin-engined Embraer E190 jetliner on the route, with tickets available on flyairlink.com.

A test booking on the airline's website showed a return fare starting at R15,072.

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