page_title: Saint Helena Airport
section_title: Airport construction
hierarchical_section_title: Saint Helena Airport / History / Airport construction
caption_attribution_description: English: Between 2013 and 2015 a new airport was constructed on Prosperous Bay Plain in eastern St Helena Island.
context_page_description: Saint Helena Airport is an international airport on Saint Helena, a remote island in the south Atlantic Ocean, in the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha.
  The construction of the runway was finished in 2015 and the airport opened in 2016. The inaugural scheduled flight was delayed but general aviation, charter, and medical evacuation flights were able to serve the airport from May 2016.
  The airport began scheduled commercial services on 14 October 2017, when the South African carrier Airlink inaugurated a weekly service from O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, via Walvis Bay Airport, Namibia, using an Embraer E190-100IGW, about one and a half years after the originally expected inauguration date, and with a smaller-sized aircraft, because of wind shear problems affecting the airport. Additionally, monthly charter flights operate between Ascension Island and Saint Helena.
context_section_description: Approximately £202 million was funded for design and construction by South African engineering group Basil Read (Pty) Ltd. The UK government also granted additional funds of up to £10 million in shared-risk contingency, and £35.1 million for 10 years of operation by South African airport operator Lanseria Airport. According to the St Helena government, this was 20% less in real terms from the 2008 price, taking into account inflation and the value of the pound. The airport would be the largest single investment ever made in the island.
  However, no final contracts had been signed by January 2009 and as construction had not commenced, the island's governor, Andrew Gurr, travelled to London in an attempt to speed up the process. On 22 July 2010 the British government agreed to assist in payment for the new airport. On 3 November 2011 Governor Mark Capes announced construction contracts had been signed.
  On 4 November 2011 Basil Read was awarded the contract to construct an airport on St Helena Island. The first representatives of Basil Read visited the island on Saturday, 19 November 2011 for initial investigations and discussions. Following a second team's visit during December 2011 Basil Read's project manager settled on the island and the first St Helenian citizen was employed.
  Basil Read CEO Heyns in November 2011 said the design phase would begin immediately and anticipated that construction could begin in May 2012, which at peak would employ some 300 people of whom as many locals as possible should be involved. Construction is said to take place over a 48-month period.
  Preparation works began in early 2012 in Rupert's Valley on the west coast, which included establishing storage facilities, a temporary fuel farm and the design and construction of a temporary wharf. A new jetty was built at Rupert's Bay to enable the landing of supplies and construction vehicles.
  Only four weeks after the approval for the airport to be constructed and years before operations would start, Geo. Robson & Co. (Conveyors) Ltd. had already completed and shipped a baggage carousel for the airport. The company stated that with a 12-metre (39 ft) perimeter it was one of the smallest baggage carousels they had ever manufactured. Until the airport opened it was planned for use at St Helena's harbour to deliver baggage to passengers arriving by RMS St Helena.
  Logistics of the airport's construction were critical, because of the island's isolated location and the lack of construction equipment, which would require everything such as extremely heavy duty equipment and materials to be shipped in, thus resulting in a huge and unique logistics operation. 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. Fuel transfers between Rupert's Bay and the aerodrome, connected by a 14-kilometre (9 mi) haul road, were assumed to be by road tanker for 20 years, after which a capital allowance was made for enlargement of the bulk fuel storage and the installation of a fuel transfer pipeline.
  Basil Read sourced its own ship, a roll-on/roll-off vessel called NP Glory 4 flying the Thai flag, which docked for the first time at St Helena on 11 July 2012 and subsequently provided regular supplies to the island, including cargo and personnel for the project. 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, but this was not done.
  In June 2013 the 100,000th truckload of fill went into Dry Gut, a gorge which had to be raised by almost 100 metres (330 ft) in order to create an embankment that would finally carry parts of the runway. This was equivalent to nearly 19% of the total of 8 million cubic metres required. Basil Read's calculations showed that a further 430,000 truckloads of material would be needed to complete the fill.
  In September 2013, workers empl
caption: Construction on Prosperous Bay Plain, February 2015
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