St Helena : When The Saints Go Flying In
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Juanita Brock) 07.04.2003 (Article Archived on 21.04.2003)
The British Government has promised £26.3 Million to ensure that Saint Helena has an airport.
NEWS RELEASE
When the Saints go flying in!!!!!
The Island of St. Helena, one of the remotest inhabited places (population 5,000) in the world, could soon have its first-ever airport. The island's government today officially launched its online Air Access Invitation, seeking expressions of interest and outline proposals from international contractors and investors, which would open the island up to tourism and business. The British government is willing to contribute up to £26.3 million of the proposed project cost, subject to approval of technical and financial proposals.
The island, one of UK's remaining Overseas Territories, lies in the South Atlantic Ocean nearly 2,000 kilometres off the west coast of Africa and 2,730 kilometres from Cape Town. The islanders, known as Saints, are British citizens and currently depend on a shipping service to link them to the outside world. The current population of St Helena is around 5,000.
It takes five days to get to Cape Town or two days to reach Ascension Island, the nearest land to St. Helena. From Ascension it is currently possible to fly to the UK and the Falkland Islands with the Royal Air Force. Anyone thinking of visiting St Helena would currently have do so on the RMS "ST HELENA'', which visits about 25 times a year. Most of its voyages are between St. Helena and either Ascension Island or Cape Town, but quarterly each year it sails to the United Kingdom.
The Saints have expressed support for the project. An air service will make it easier for them to travel and will mean that Saints living and working abroad can visit their families more often. St. Helena's isolation (and the time and cost of travelling there by the RMS) currently limits the scope for home visits by Saints living off the Island. An air service should change all that.
The island of St Helena offers spectacular unspoiled landscapes and a variety of activities from deep sea diving and hiking to viewing rare plants and birds. St Helena is also famous for being Napoleon Bonaparte's final place of exile, from 1815 until his death in 1821. Longwood House, where he lived, is preserved as a museum.
The Governor of St. Helena, Mr David Hollamby, says of the project:
"The construction of an airport and the introduction of a commercial air service and associated economic developments will radically alter the island and reverse the decline in St Helena's economy. We are hopeful that entrepreneurial and ambitious consortia will see this as a fantastic engineering and logistical challenge."
The Invitation has been designed and launched on behalf of the St. Helena Government by GIC Limited, a London firm of international management and business advisers. It can be downloaded from their website : www.giclimited.com.
For further information, please contact GIC Limited directly.
Ends
April 2003
Please contact:
Lui Yeung or James McLeod
GIC Limited
152 Buckingham Palace Road
London
SW1W 9TR
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7259 8000
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7259 8001
Email: sthelena@giclimited.com
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