MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
RMS St Helena schedule extended another year until airport is ready for commercial flights
RMS St. Helena, one of the last Royal Mail Ships in the world is to continue serving her remote South Atlantic island namesake until 1 July 2017, the St Helena Government has announced. The RMS passenger and freight service will continue to operate between Cape Town, St Helena and Ascension Island with the extended schedule confirmed by the island's director of tourism. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesTWIMC
Aug 05th, 2016 - 09:07 am - Link - Report abuse 0Article says...:
“ Plans for the airport hit a snag as wind testing proved unsatisfactory. ”
My fellow Scandinavian and newly elected Saint Councillor, Mr. P.M. Olsson says...:
“ The airport was built at a cost of £285million...and only when it was finished was it discovered that the wind would make it very difficult for planes to land !?! ”
#1
Aug 05th, 2016 - 09:29 am - Link - Report abuse 0So ? Get a different aircraft for commercial flights .
Lowlander at (2)
Aug 05th, 2016 - 10:12 am - Link - Report abuse 0If things were just so easy...
Changing to smaller planes is not a viable solution...
In my humble opinion the right thing to do is to modify the aerodinamics of HLE's runway end area by a complete (and very expensivo) redesign...
Just have a look at the current situation! ...:
http://sainthelenaisland.info/airportrunwayend.jpg
Piss up and brewery instantly jumps to mind.
Aug 05th, 2016 - 10:53 am - Link - Report abuse 0Think - this is where you and I are in total agreement- spot on! The UK Overseas Aid Dept was made well aware of the Wind Shear issues before runway site alignment building ever started and advised to check it out - the survey was going to cost approx. £1/2 million so the civil servants binned it and spent nearly £300million of UK taxpayers money on a so far unusable airport runway instead.
Aug 05th, 2016 - 11:07 am - Link - Report abuse 0No doubt those civil servants all got their pay rises and bonuses and are probably still in post.
TWIMC
Aug 05th, 2016 - 11:16 am - Link - Report abuse 0A less “Rosy” viewpoint about St. Helena's airport “Snag” by that known Communist & Subversive individual called Lord Ashcroft...:
http://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2016/06/lord-ashcroft-special-investigation-a-dangerous-problem-with-st-helenas-new-airport-leaves-the-islanders-in-despair.html
@4 ChrisR you seem to have forgotten to reply to me on the thread where I caught you out in the biggest lie. Smearing me in the worst way by stating that I had defended paedophiles is beyond contempt. It was a blatant lie as I proved to you. An apology would fix it.
Aug 05th, 2016 - 11:47 am - Link - Report abuse 0I think I covered this in a previous topic about 3 months ago. The aircraft proposed cannot flair on landing as the tail would drag on the runway. Consequently their landing and take off speed are higher. If they have any significant following wind then they would not have enough runway to stop/take off.
Aug 05th, 2016 - 01:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0This subject has been widely discussed in the aeronautical press.
(5) Islander1
Aug 05th, 2016 - 01:45 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Sorry, but I can't see any “total agreement” here...
I “Think” that blaming some anonymous civil servants is the usual brainwashed excuse...
What I “Think” is that the St. Helena airport is important for the Engrish Colonial designs in the South Atlantic..., ”extending the United Kingdom's capabilities to carry out airborne missions in the South Atlantic region, such as maritime patrols in accordance with international fishing agreements counter-piracy missions along important trade routes, and also airlift operations notably into Southern Africa.
According to analysts the UK government's decision to finally go ahead with the airport, after long delays, seems to be driven in part by concerns over a continuing tense standoff with Argentina in the Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute. The island is about 3,812 miles (seven hours and 40 minutes' flight time) from the Falklands. But, analysts say that was nevertheless an improvement over the present state of isolation from the UK for both St Helena and the Falklands” .... as written in Wikipedia... and that is why the Airport was hurried through under the fantastic pretext of 35.000 tourists a year willing to visit a 10 x 4 miles Island in the middle of nowhere with only a dangerous 100 meter volcanic ashes beach, an old imported tortoise and a Napoleonic curse to show...
Poor Saints...
F****d again...
Not as F****d as Argentina. We have two floating airfield coming into service.
Aug 05th, 2016 - 04:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Think - and I was trying to be a nice chap! St Helena airport is of no relevance to Falklands - a bit to short for the range/size. Had they made it longer - if geography right - then potentially flights could have gone Asc-St Helena-Falklands and back.
Aug 05th, 2016 - 04:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0RAF quite capable of reaching S Africa from Asc if needed to - and bigger and better runway by far! Same for long range maritime patrol - St Helena potentially of use for patrol of its fishery I agree.
Justification for the Overseas Aid Investment was either airport - and the Island may improve economically.
Or
New ship(current is elderly) and carry on annual cash subsidy to the Island from UK for a long time if not indefinite!
Nothing to do with Wikipedias hair shirts.
@ 7 ElaineB
Aug 05th, 2016 - 05:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I don't think so until you provide me with the actual post reference, as I requested.
BTW, give me a couple of days and I will have a little surprise for you concerning your veracity.
@12 I did give you the reference though you know perfectly well the content of your post. Your short-term memory is not entirely shot is it?
Aug 05th, 2016 - 05:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Having been caught out in a heinous lie and deliberate attempt to smear me, your response is not to simply apologise and we would move on but spend days muck raking? Seriously? You really are making a fool of yourself.
@ 13
Aug 05th, 2016 - 06:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I see you are adhering to the Goebbels dictat of keep telling the lies and people will believe you, only they won't when I post a few of your old posts.
Only a few days to wait!
Another cheap political alternative cockup,
Aug 05th, 2016 - 06:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0still, give it a few years and a couple of more million quid then it may get going.
so they say.
@14 Not lies from me. Your words for everyone to see.
Aug 05th, 2016 - 07:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0But do spend the weekend trying to dig up dirt about me because what else would you be doing?
Seems love is in the air again.
Aug 05th, 2016 - 09:32 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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