St Helena, a remote British Overseas Territory off the African coast, is at risk of being completely cut off from air travel due to a dispute with an RAF base on a nearby island.
The row centres on the RAF’s refusal to allow emergency diversionary landings for civilian aircraft serving the island’s 4,400 residents.
Weekly flights, currently run by Airlink, could be grounded if the standoff is not resolved.
Without air access, the colony would be reachable only by sea – with the closest port in South Africa some five days’ sail away.
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Ascension Island, roughly 700 miles from St Helena, is meant to serve as a backup airport when poor weather prevents landings.
The RAF base there was where British forces launched a daring mission to hantavirus patients on Tristan da Cunha, another of Britain’s possessions in the Atlantic.
An investigation by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) found that the RAF had imposed a ban on Airlink touching down on Ascension during poor weather.
As a result, Airlink pilots were forced to attempt landings in hazardous conditions rather than diverting to the nearby base.
The RAF ban violated a 2023 agreement under which Ascension could be designated an alternative destination for flights encountering poor conditions.
Flight regulations mean pilots have to include diversionary airports in their plans.
As a result, the dispute could ultimately end the St Helena air service and cut off residents from essential supplies.
Islanders believe only one in four flights can land during its harsh winter weather.
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But some St Helena locals even think the Pentagon may be driving the reluctance to admit civilian aircraft to Ascension – which hosts joint American and British intelligence-gathering and space-tracking facilities.
The AAIB recommended that the Ministry of Defence should let airlines which run routes to St Helena list the RAF base as a diversionary airfield, in keeping with the 2023 agreement.
It also called for diversionary procedures to be formally documented to prevent any future ambiguity over the airfield’s availability.
Airlink has confirmed that the situation remains unchanged – it may only divert to Ascension in a genuine emergency.
The carrier described St Helena as among its most demanding destinations, noting that all flights are crewed by two senior captains rather than the usual pairing of a captain and a junior first officer.
St Helena’s airport opened in 2017, ending the island’s sole reliance on a monthly sailing from Cape Town.
That sea service was discontinued a year after flights began.
Today, the island’s only maritime link is a cargo ferry offering limited passenger berths.
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