St Helena Airport

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St Helena Airport
Under construction in September 2014
Under construction in September 2014
Code IATA: HLE, ICAO: FHSH
Territory St Helena, Ascension
and Tristan da Cunha
Island St Helena
Public
Owner St Helena Government
Operator Lanseria Airport
Location 15°0’0"N, 5°0’0"E
Runway 6,070 feet (Concrete)
Website

St Helena Airport is an airport under construction since early 2012 on St Helena, chief island of the British overseas territory of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.

The island is remote in the middle of the south Atlantic Ocean and hitherto has had no connection with the outside world by air, only by sea, by which it is supplied by the RMS St Helena, the last surviving Royal Mail ship in service.[1] The topography of the island has been a formidable barrier to building an airport, which has now been laid down on the only suffient flat part of the island. Scheduled air services from Johannesburg are scheduled to commence in May 2016.

After the airport opens, the Royal Mail ship St Helena, the only transport that regularly serves the island, is due to retire.[1][2][3]

Rationale

St Helena is located more than 1,200 miles from the nearest major landmass, and it can currently only be reached by ship. This takes five days from Cape Town, with departure once every three weeks, making St Helena one of the most remote populated places on earth, measured as travel time from major cities.

History

The first considerations for an airport on St Helena were made in 1943 by the South African Air Force which undertook a survey on Prosperous Bay Plain from October 1943 until January 1944 but concluded that while technically feasible, an airport was not a practical proposition.[4]

From the 1960s, there was an idea to build an airport on the St Helena Island. In 1999, this was taken up by the island government.

After a long period of rumour and consultation, the British government announced plans to construct an airport in St Helena in March 2005 and the airport was originally expected to be completed by 2010. However constant delays by the British government[4] not least due to inaction by Prime Minister Gordon Brown who insisted on reviewing the paperwork himself[5] meant an approved bidder, the Italian firm Impregilo, was not chosen until 2008. Then the project was put on hold in November 2008, allegedly due to new financial pressures brought on by the 2007–2010 credit-crunch and collapse in government finances.

By January 2009, construction had not begun and no final contracts had been signed, and the then Governor, Andrew Gurr, left for London in an attempt to speed up the process and solve the problems. On 22 July 2010, the new British government agreed to help pay for the new airstrip using taxpayers' money.[6] It was only on 3 November 2011 that the new Governor, Mark Andrew Capes, announced that construction contracts were signed.[7]

The airport is expected to open in 2016, by which time the RMS St Helena, the only regular ship to call at St Helena, will be retired. Its advocates hope the airport will bring growth to the isolated island economy through the tourism sector which, in the long term, is expected to lead to financial self-sustainability and an end to budgetary aid from the United Kingdom treasury.[7]

The first aircraft, a Beechcraft King Air 200, landed on September 15, 2015 in order to perform calibration tests.[8]

Funding

Approximately £202 million has been funded for design and construction which will be carried out by South African engineering group Basil Read (Pty) Ltd. The UK Government has also granted additional funds of up to £10 million in shared risk contingency, and £35.1 million for ten years of operation by South-African airport operator Lanseria Airport. This represents over 20% in savings in real terms from the 2008 price, taking into account inflation and the value of the pound, the St Helena government has said. The airport will be the largest single investment ever made in the island.[7]

Location and dimensions

The airport is being built on Prosperous Bay Plain, on the east side of St Helena entailing a concrete runway of 6,070 feet with taxiway and apron, approximately 282,520,000 cubic feet rockfill embankment through which a 2,461-foot long reinforced concrete culvert will run, an airport terminal building of 1 acre and support infrastructure, air traffic control and safety, bulk fuel installation for 6 million litres of diesel and aviation fuel, an airport access road 9 miles from Rupert's Bay to the airport, and all related logistics.[9]

Aviation

Aircraft compatibility

Given its dimensions the airport will be capable of accommodating up to two[10] twinjet passenger aircraft up to the size of the Airbus A319, Boeing 737 and also the Boeing 757-200. Following the decision for a shorter runway of 5,085 feet the previously planned use of Boeing 737-800 aircraft had been ruled out in the first instance. Instead the airport was to be designed to receive Boeing 737-700 aircraft.[11] However, on 17 July 2012 the St Helena Government and Basil Read agreed to a change to the runway design which includes widening the embankment over an additional 131 feet at the southern end, paving an additional hundred yards of the runway with concrete, providing larger turning circles at the runway ends, and increasing the size of the apron.[12] It will now have a full 787-foot Runway End Safety Area (RESA) at the southern end of the runway instead of the originally planned Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS). The intention is to add an EMAS designed for Boeing 737-800 at a later date butting onto the southern end of the paved runway to increase the declarable Landing Distance Available (LDA) to 5,413 feet,[13] which will then allow receiving larger aircraft such as the Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A320.[12][14]

The additional earthworks and concrete will increase duration of construction by 12 weeks so works are now expected to be completed by 25 February 2016.[12] Extending the embankment once the airport is operational would have involved prohibitive costs as heavy equipment would have needed to be brought back to the island and huge quantities of rock from another site to be moved, while now material excavated from Prosperous Bay Plain will be used to fill Dry Gut.[12]

In June 2013 the St Helena Government announced it was again assessing changes that can be made to the design of the runway to cater for operations of a wider range of aircraft to enable direct flights to the United Kingdom and Europe, which are believed to be crucial for the island's tourism plans.[15][16] These are Code D aircraft requiring the addition of shoulders along both sides of the runway, a wider taxiway and apron, and a higher fire fighting capacity (ICAO Rescue Fire Fighting Service Category 7).[17]

In October 2013 a formal agreement was signed for the proposed design changes.[18] These enhancements will also make it possible for the Lockheed C-130 Hercules to operate to and from St Helena, though the runway is unlikely to be able to accommodate larger Code D aircraft, such as the Boeing 767.[18] The upgrade will be funded from cost savings on other parts of the project,[16] particularly by a simplified runway drainage system.[17]

Navigation aids

St Helena Airport will be equipped with an Instrument landing system|instrument landing system (ILS) and a Doppler VHF Omni-directional Radio Range system (DVOR) supplied by Thales Group.[19] Further to that Honeywell Aerospace will supply a SmartPath Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS), a technology that augments Global Positioning System (GPS) signals to make them suitable for precision approach and landing. It overcomes many of the limitations of Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) traditionally used by airports to guide aircraft as they approach the runway.[20]

Infrastructure and logistics

Logistics of the airport's construction are critical, because of the island's isolated location and the lack of construction equipment, which will require everything such as extremely heavy duty equipment and materials to be shipped in, thus resulting in a huge and unique logistics operation.[21]

Due to the limited landing infrastructure, with no breakwater or mooring facilities at the sea front, new harbour facilities capable of handling construction equipment and fuel supplies were constructed at Rupert's Bay.[22] Fuel transfers between Rupert's Bay and the aerodrome connected by a 14-kilometre haul road are assumed to be by road tanker for 20 years, after which a capital allowance has been made for enlargement of the bulk fuel storage and the installation of a fuel transfer pipeline.[23]

Construction on Prosperous Bay Plain, February 2015

Basil Read has been sourcing its own ship, a roll-on/roll-off vessel[24] called NP Glory 4 flying the Thai flag,[25] which, as planned, docked for the first time at St Helena on 11 July 2012 and has since been regularly supplying the island with cargo and personnel for the project.[26]

The company also considered developing a temporary runway to enable the use of a C-130 Hercules-type aircraft to facilitate quicker access to the site within 18 months of the beginning of construction,[24] but this was not done.

Strategic relevance

The airport will extend the United Kingdom's capabilities to carry out airborne missions in the South Atlantic region, such as maritime patrols in accordance with international fishing agreements (for example those of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, counter-piracy missions along important trade routes, and also airlift operations notably into Southern Africa.

According to analysts the government's decision to finally go ahead with the airport, after long delays, seems to be driven in part by concerns over a continuing tense standoff with Argentina over the Falkland Islands. St Helena is still about 3,812 miles (seven hours and 40 minutes' flight time) from the Falklands, but, analysts say that was nevertheless an improvement over the present state of isolation from the United Kingdom for both St Helena and the Falklands.[27]

Environmental issues

Prosperous Bay Plain is one of the few remaining sites on St Helena that holds significant ecological diversity; according to a 2004 review by Atkins Management Consultants, the survival of numerous endemic species critically depend on preservation and protection of the location; it also is an important nesting site for the wirebird, St Helena's national bird which is listed as critically endangered. Although Shelco still continues to be a major force pushing for the airport's construction, its co-founder Sir Nigel is the chairman of the environmental charity Campaign to Protect Rural England.[28]

Outside links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 RMS St Helena
  2. ↑ "The Air Access Project". Atlantic Star Airlines. http://www.atlanticstarairlines.com/#!air-access-project/ca4p. 
  3. ↑ 'On St Helena Day, 21 May 2016, begins air link of the island with South Africa' – Mercopress, Saturday May 23rd 2015
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "DFID Consultation Document – Annex A – Summary of cost/benefit analysis and financial costs". DFID. 16 April 2009. p. 12. http://www.dfid.gov.uk/documents/consultations/sthelena/consult-sthele-annexes-apr09.pdf. 
  5. ↑ Kettle, Martin (26 September 2008). "Salvaged with a kiss? Maybe, but Brown's woes run deep". The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/sep/26/gordonbrown.labourconference. 
  6. ↑ St Helena to get airstrip
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Airport Approved" The St Helena Herald, Volume XI Number 28, 4 November 2011, p.4
  8. ↑ article in the St Helena Independent
  9. ↑ "Basil Read awarded contract to construct airport on St Helena Island" Basil Read, 4 November 2011
  10. ↑ "Application Drawings, CI-01-1001 – General Runway Layout" Airport Development Application, 2004
  11. ↑ Olsson, Mikael (20 January 2012). "Editorial". The St Helena Independent (Jamestown) VII (10): pp. 2. http://www.independent.co.sh/20120120.pdf. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 "FIRST PROJECT VARIATION ORDER SIGNED – Additional Runway Works to Allow for Future Expansion". press release. St Helena Government Access Office. 23 July 2012. http://www.sainthelenaaccess.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/St-Helena-Airport-update-No13.pdf. 
  13. ↑ St Helena Government (12 July 2012). "St Helena Airport Update". press release. St Helena Government. http://www.sainthelenaaccess.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/St-Helena-Airport-update-No-13.pdf. Retrieved 18 June 2012. 
  14. ↑ St Helena Government (23 July 2012). "Additional runway works to allow for future expansion". press release. St Helena Government. http://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/news.php/624/additional-runway-works-to-allow-for-future-expansion. Retrieved 24 July 2012. 
  15. ↑ Pipe, Simon (8 November 2012). "Doubt over eco-resort as Shelco seeks direct flights to Europe". St Helena Online (Jamestown). http://sthelenaonline.org/2012/11/08/doubt-over-eco-resort-as-shelco-seeks-direct-flights-to-europe/. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Pipe, Simon (14 June 2013). "No flights from London? Woah, I’m going to Barbados…". St Helena Online (Jamestown). http://sthelenaonline.org/2013/06/14/no-flights-from-london-woah-im-going-to-barbados//. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Design Changes". St Helena Airport Update (Jamestown) (31): pp. 2. 13 June 2013. http://www.brshap.co.za/press/Issues/St%20Helena%20Airport%20update%20-%20No%2031.pdf. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Olsson, Mikael (6 December 2013). "Editorial". The St Helena Independent (Jamestown) IX (1): pp. 3. http://www.saint.fm/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/20131206.pdf. 
  19. ↑ "Thales wins navigation contract for St Helena Island’s first airport". press release. Thales Group. 7 November 2012. http://www.thalesgroup.com/Press_Releases/Countries/United_Kingdom/2012/121107_Thales_wins_navigation_contract_for_St_Helena_Island%E2%80%99s_first_airport/. Retrieved 9 November 2012. 
  20. ↑ "Honeywell to provide aircraft landing assurance at St Helena's first airport". press release. Honeywell International Inc.. 3 April 2014. http://aerospace.honeywell.com/about/media-resources/newsroom/honeywell-to-provide-aircraft-landing-assurance-at-st-helena-airport#sthash.T8oGLCNq.dpuf. Retrieved 11 May 2014. 
  21. ↑ "Basil Read's second team Visits and first St Helenian employed", St Helena Herald, Volume XI no. 35, 23 December 2011, p. 5
  22. ↑ "St Helena Access Feasibility Study" St Helena Government, Department for International Development, January 2005, p. 17
  23. ↑ St Helena Access
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Basil Read wins R2.7bn contract to build St Helena's first airport " Engineering News, 3 November 2011
  25. ↑ MarineTraffic.com. "N P GLORY 4". database. MarineTraffic.com. http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/shipdetails.aspx?MMSI=567321000. Retrieved 7 November 2012. 
  26. ↑ Sharon Henry. "NP GLORY 4 MAKES HISTORY, DOCKING AT ST HELENA". news article. St The St Helena Broadcasting (Guarantee) Corporation Ltd.. http://www.shbc.sh/L3_news_120711_np_glory_lands.html. Retrieved 7 November 2012. 
  27. ↑ "St. Helena airport a key Falklands link". news article. United Press International, Inc.. 7 November 2011. http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2011/11/07/St-Helena-airport-a-key-Falklands-link/UPI-78911320686806/. Retrieved 8 August 2012. 
  28. ↑ Robin Stummer and Daniel Howden: "The Battle for St Helena". Ezilon Infobase, 20 October 2005. Retrieved 28 August 2007.
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