A recent video from a popular aviation YouTuber has me once again itching to visit one of the world’s most remote airports, Saint Helena. This is something that has been on my bucket list for years, and I can’t help but at least consider this once again. Let me share some background, and then the challenging logistics of traveling there…
What is the remote island of Saint Helena?
Saint Helena is a remote island in the South Atlantic Ocean, about 1,200 miles off the coast of Africa, with a population of around 5,000 people. The island is a British Overseas Territory, and is known as the place of Napoleon Bonaparte’s exile and death. Other British Overseas Territories in the area include Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.
Up until 2017, the only way to get to Saint Helena was by ship, so as you can imagine, the island has been very isolated from the rest of the world. Finally in 2017, Saint Helena Airport (HLE) opened, which was a game changer, since travel time to Saint Helena went from several days to just several hours. However, actually operating at the airport comes with some major challenges.
Given how remote the island is, a lot of precautions have to be taken when flying there, due to the lack of diversion points. The island being in the middle of the ocean means that weather conditions can rapidly change, and on top of that, winds can be really strong. As a result, planes always need to have enough fuel to reach their closest diversion point, 1,200+ miles away.
When the airport was constructed, the hope was that it would consistently be able to accept Boeing 737 flights. However, due to strong wind shear plus the short runway, that ultimately didn’t end up being the case, at least without a major payload restriction. That’s why the airport is only served by smaller aircraft.
It’s worth noting that while Saint Helena is remote, it’s not the most remote airport in the world. That title belongs to Mataveri International Airport on Easter Island (IPC), as that’s roughly 2,300 miles from the nearest diversion point. However, the airport isn’t otherwise as challenging to fly to, given the much longer runway, which means that wide body jets can fly there.
Which airlines fly to Saint Helena?
South African carrier Airlink is the only airline operating regularly scheduled service to Saint Helena, using 98-seat Embraer E190 aircraft.
On a year-round basis, the airline operates a once weekly service between Johannesburg (JNB) and Saint Helena (HLE), with a refueling stop on the outbound in Walvis Bay, Namibia (WVB). That stop is just to refuel, and there are no pick-up rights there. This flight ordinarily operates on Saturdays (though sometimes on Tuesdays in peak season), with the following schedule:
4Z131 Johannesburg to Walvis Bay departing 9:00AM arriving 11:35AM
4Z131 Walvis Bay to Saint Helena departing 12:05PM arriving 1:35PM
4Z132 Saint Helena to Johannesburg departing 2:30PM arriving 9:15PM
For those curious, the Johannesburg to Walvis Bay segment covers 883 miles and is blocked at 2hr35min, the Walvis Bay to Saint Helena flight covers 1,407 miles and is blocked at 3hr30min, and the Saint Helena to Johannesburg flight covers 2,290 miles and is blocked at 4hr45min.
For those aviation geeks who are looking to take this flight, the issue is that you typically either have to do a direct turn, or you have to spend an entire week in Saint Helena, which is a long time to commit to that. Fortunately there are two ways you can spend a shorter amount of time on the island.
On the second Saturday of each month, the flight to Saint Helena continues to Ascension Island Airport (ASI), about 800 miles to the northwest. The flight from Saint Helena to Ascension is a charter flight, so it’s not bookable directly with Airlink. The benefit of this route is that the aircraft spends a night on Ascension Island, meaning that once per month, you can fly to Saint Helena for roughly 24 hours.
On top of that, there’s a seasonal service to Saint Helena from Cape Town (CPT), which also operates via Walvis Bay in the westbound direction. The seasonal service is typically in December through February, and when it operates, that service is often on Saturdays, while the Johannesburg service is moved to Tuesdays.
No matter which itinerary you book, be prepared for last minute cancelations. Given the risk of bad weather and limited margins for this service, it’s not unusual to see flights rescheduled.
Speaking of this whole itinerary, YouTuber Noel Philips recently took this flight, and uploaded a great video about the experience, including about the flight and his time in Saint Helena, and it’s well worth a watch. He was initially supposed to be there for one day, but it ended up getting extended to two days, due to a weather cancelation.
How do you book these Saint Helena flights?
Unfortunately there’s also no practical way to redeem major points currencies for these flights. Airlink is an independent carrier, and doesn’t have major redemption partners. However, with Qatar Airways investing in Airlink, my hope is that it may eventually be possible to redeem Qatar Airways Avios for these flights. At least I’m crossing my fingers that this becomes possible!
As you’d expect, cash fares aren’t cheap, given the high operating costs of these flights, due to the complexity. Roundtrip economy fares are typically approaching $1,000, while roundtrip business class fares are typically approaching $2,000.
Bottom line
Saint Helena is one of the world’s most remote airports, and for that matter, is one of the airports with the least commercial service. The airport is served once weekly by Airlink, meaning that if you want to visit, you typically have to do so for at least a week. The trick is that once per month, the flight continues to Ascension, providing an opportunity to visit Saint Helena for one day.
Anyone else fascinated by these Saint Helena flights? Have any OMAAT readers visited Saint Helena?
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