St Helena Airport has implemented critical improvements, with a new scheduled air link, IT updates and soaring passenger numbers. CEO Gwyneth Howell, Business Manager Tavonga Chikwenhere and IT & CNS Specialist Scott Stander told Andy Probert why they are, rightly, flying high.
STHelena Island, a tiny mid-Atlantic British Overseas territory, is nestled between a population of 1.5 billion people, ‘squeezed’ as it is between Brazil and Africa. However, it has recently found its ‘roar’ thanks to its airport.
Opened in 2016, St Helena Airport – staff count, 29 full-time – has muscled its way past prior planning stumbles, industry scepticism and Covid-19 to post recordbreaking arrival numbers.
“Far from looking back, we are moving forward and achieving the potential we could see when the airport opened,” emphasised CEO Gwyneth Howell. “We pride ourselves on being termed a big-small airport: one maintaining international standards yet operating on low staff numbers. The team is highly motivated, skilled and determined to achieve the best for St Helena.”
There are many reasons to be cheerful: December 2023 produced record arrivals,
2024 could be its best year yet, a new weekly flight from South Africa in the offing, and with a more modern IT infrastructure, a smoother customer experience beckons.
Vital link
Before the airport’s opening, the island –1,210 miles west of Angola and 2,500 miles from Rio de Janeiro – was only accessible via a six-day boat crossing from Cape Town, South Africa.
Today, the airport hosts twiceweekly Airlink-operated flights from Johannesburg as well as frequent private and charter flights. It is a layover for technical stops for aircraft flying between South America and Africa. The airport also supports Medevac services to take seriously ill patients to the African mainland for treatment, including those from Ascension Island, 800 miles away.
2019 passenger arrivals peaked at 9,462 but fell to 3,048 by 2021. A year later, numbers jumped back to 5,638 and climbed to 7,911 in 2023, posting a 40% rise.
“Post-Covid, the airport’s journey has been very interesting as passenger numbers surged,” said B usiness Manager Tavonga Chikwenhere . “December 2023 was our busiest month ever, with 26 flight movements.”
The airport’s importance cannot be understated as it is a lynchpin of the e conomy. St Helena attracts tourists due to its diving activities, hiking and cultural tours. While inextricably linked to Napoleon – he was exiled there in 1815 and died six years later – the island offers a fascinating look at 500 years’ history and its pivotal role in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.
Generating 11% of the island’s total income, tourism is by far the economy’s largest commercial contributor. That stood at about £6.5m in 2019 but fell back between £3.9m and £5.4m for the 2022- 23 seasons.
“St Helena tourism is being heavily promoted this coming season, and we anticipate tourist number to increase in
2024,” said Mr Chikwenhere.
“We hope the 2024-25 season will be our best yet as travellers realise what an amazing place St Helena is”
“The airport received 1,124 passengers in January, just 12 per cent below our best-ever January figures in 2020. If that’s the trajectory for the rest of the year, we could even surpass 2019’s totals. So, we are very optimistic.”This will undoubtedly be assisted by Airlink resuming direct flights between Cape Town and St Helena on Saturdays from December to March 2025 to supplement the existing flight from Johannesburg on Tuesdays.
Airlink flights also act as the ‘silent Medevac’ service to the St Helena community, allowing less critical patients requiring specialised treatment not available on the island to seek it in South Africa.
The airport has also shown its adaptability to cope with out-of-the-ordinary visitors. As part of an RAF capability
demonstration, a Boeing C-17 Globemaster, with a wingspan of 51.75 metres, was the first of its type to land there and showed its incredible capabili ties by using only 767 metres of the 1,535-metrelong runway.
It has played host to a Pilatus PC-12 as part of a historical flight marking the centenary of the first aerial circumnavigation of the world. And in February, Prince Edward visited the island, the first member of the royal family since 2002.
Digital, greener strategies
“Think big, and they will come” is a maxim the team at St Helena Airport could have adopted as it works through critical
improvements to bring the rest of the world closer.
In October 2023, the island moved to a fibre cable-based Internet, vastly increasing connection speeds to 300 Megabits per second.
IT & CNS Specialist Scott Stander highlighted how this significant improvement had heralded an ATC data system upgrade to the airport’s server infrastructure and enabled it to utilise various services, including online training, cloud-based software systems and file storage, and remote monitoring and system maintenance.
“Most importantly, our cyber security systems have increased, are now cloudbased, and we have enhanced disaste r recovery functionality,” Mr Stander added. “We are also upgrading our meteorological software system to offer better weather forecasting data.”
The airport has also switched to a paperless environment and adopted a streamlined approach to asset management. A quicker network interaction
offers the opportunity to upgrade its check-in and boarding systems, enabling a seamless, faster service forpassengers.
It also supports the broader St Helena ten-year wellness plan to safeguard the environment and health for future generations by minimising pollution and the use of resources. This includes looking at the potential for solar power and wind farms to help St Helena transition from fossil fuel dependence.
“As an organisation, we are also focussing on developing our talent and empowering them through various initiatives, including introducing a wellness program to promote healthier lifestyles,” Ms Howell said.
On an operational level, the harsh environmental conditions the airport faces have resulted in equipment rusting at rates significantly higher than the norm elsewhere in the world.
Local firm AMD Engineering has been commissioned to build an additional
storage facility for equipment vital to the airport’s operations. There are ambitions to install solar power there and roll it out to the airport’s terminal and related facilities.
A Carbon Management policy has been adopted to assess, reduce and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions under its direct control. This includes replacing its current fleet of vehicles and equipment with greener options.
Moving forward
As the airport’s operations have increased, so has its budgets and costs. It operates on an annual £3 million budget and is handling a five-year asset replacement scheme, renewing or replacing essential equipment, security systems and IT servers.
Ms Howell emphasised that the airport strives to support the local economy to
strengthen its resilience and improve business sustainability. This has been enabled by its partnerships with local companies supplying various goods and services to the airport. These include Rose & Crown, Thorpes, Solomons, Blue Lantern Hotel, Mantis Hotel, the Bank of St Helena and Airlink.
“Our key ambition remains to be the international gateway to the island and an enabler and supporter of economic and social growth of St Helena, through improved passenger and cargo access, in a sustainable manner,” Ms Howell said, in conclusion. “We have a lot of hard work ahead, but we hope the 2024-25 season will be our best yet as travellers realise what an amazing place St Helena is.” n
