A little-known UK island in the southern Atlantic is to get its own airport. St. Helena – perhaps most famous for being where Emperor Napoleon was exiled to after his defeat in the Battle of Waterloo – will see work commence on a £200 million airport in 2012, with completion anticipated for 2015 (the 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s arrival on the island). It will be built by South African company Basil Read and financed by the UK government.
Situated midway between South America and Africa, it is one of the most remote islands on the planet, yet has a population of more than 4,000 people. Currently the only way to get there is by the last remaining dedicated Royal Mail ship, RMS St Helena which runs from Ascension Island, and so St. Helena only receives around 900 visitors a year. It’s thought that the introduction of the new airport could see this figure rise to as many as 30,000.
To give you a bit more idea of what St. Helena is like, here are a couple of videos.
Useful link:
St. Helena Tourism
More about St. Helena from the BBC
