Very remote St. Helena Island to get an airport

The British placed Napoleon on St.Helena Island because it was so remote he could never escape; he died there. It is in the South Atlantic Ocean 800 miles from anything (the remote Ascension Islands) and almost twice as far from Angola on the mainland of Africa.

St. Helena's terrain is so rough that it has no airport. It's only contact with the world is RMS St. Helena, a mail ship that makes the 5-day voyage from Cape Town, South Africa about every three weeks. It formerly sailed from the UK, which was an epic voyage. That is, epic as in very long. RMS St. Helena

A huge change is coming with an airport being carved from the rock - to open in 2015 or 16.

Learmont blog at Flight Global

Photo: Jamestown, capital of St. Helena Island. From Wikimedia. Click to enlarge.