Flights to remote St Helena resume after fire safety shut-down

One of the world's remotest airports has re-opened to passengers after fire safety concerns closed it for more than a week.

Saint Helena Airport in the South Atlantic was shut on 6 February and a major incident declared when safety checks found the airport's fire engines failed to meet international standards.

Specialist parts were imported from Germany helping to bring two of the three tenders up to standard, with plans to "look at longer term replacement options," the airport said.

The island's governor, Nigel Phillips, said he was "delighted" flights had re-started and was "extremely grateful" to those who worked to regain the Category 6 status.

A Category 6 airport refers to specific fire safety requirements which enables airports to accept aircraft with lengths between 28m and 39m and fuselage widths up to 5m.

The UK-funded airport opened in 2016 and is the only commercial way people can get on and off the island with journeys by sea taking several days.

St Helena, a British Overseas Territory, lies 1,200 miles (1,900km) off the south-west African coast.

It has a landmass of 47 sq miles (121 sq km), making it about the same size as Jersey in the Channel Islands, and is home to just under 4,000 people.

The closure meant some residents were unable to leave the island while others, including police officers and government lawyers, were stranded on the mainland in South Africa following annual leave.

Small aircraft flights, including for medical evacuations, were permitted to continue flying during the closure.

St Helena Airport said the first scheduled flight took place on 17 February after it "regained Category 6 accreditation for its firefighting capabilities".

"This is down to the incredible hard work and long hours put in by the mechanics at the airport, supported by specialist engineers," it said.

In a radio address to the island, the governor said that, once operations were back to normal, an investigation would look at the circumstances leading to the closure of the airport.

The island's chief minister, Rebecca Cairns-Wicks, who was elected last year, added the re-opening was a "huge relief to everyone".

"The last 10 days has been challenging but you have shown just how our community spirit, strength and resilience has helped to get through it. We can now get people to where they need to be."

The airport added it was not selling tickets for flights up to and including 21 February as they would be reserved for existing ticket-holders and "repatriation" of those who had been affected by the closure which would be "allocated based on length of delay".