Saint Helena is one of the most unique places on Earth. A British Overseas Territory alongside Ascension Island and Tristan de Cunha, it's located 1850 km west of Africa, 4000 km east of South America and 7900 km from London. Its airport opened in 2016, until which it was on only reachable by ship, a five-day sail from Cape Town that run about once a month.
The construction of the airport was challenging, due not only to the remoteness of the place, but also because its hilly terrain and difficult wind conditions.
Only Airlink flies there on scheduled flights, every saturday from Johannesburg all year around, and from Cape Town every Tuesday between December and February. The flight from Johannesburg goes on from Saint Helena to Ascension as a government charter (which cannot be booked online) every second saturday of the month and returns next day, thus allowing to spend only one night on Saint Heena if you don't have more time.
The flight from Johannesburg has a scheduled fuelling stop in Walvis Bay on the way there but not on the way back.
I stayed at the City Lodge Airport Hotel at Johannesburg Airport. Although it's rated as a three-star hotel, it's more like a four-star hotel with spacious rooms in good condition and a good restaurant. It's within walking distance from the terminal through an indoor passage.
Check-in was at Terminal B. Business class check-in was quick.
I had to walk to terminal A. There was long queue for security control - the only negative experience about the airport today, although the agents themselves were friendly. Passport control was quick.
My favourite coffee shop at JNB:
This was my fourth time departing from JNB in two weeks and the airport became one of my favourites: the vast majority of the employees (airport or retail staff) are friendly and in good mood.
There are many lounges:
Airlink uses Slow lounge. It's an elegant place; there's even a doorman with a bowler hat, something you would expect in a five-star hotel in London. The lounge is not huge but it's nice and wasn't crowded. The main area:
Breakfast offer was nicely presented and of good quality.
I had a barista made capuccino and a chocolate croissant.
The lounge has very clean bathrooms. A shower is also available.
All staffs at the lounge were very friendlly.
I walked down to the gate at about 8.15.
Most Airlink flights have bus boarding and the gates are downstairs in this area.
Boarding started ten seconds after I had gotten there.
As soon as the passengers got on the bus, random strangers started a friendlly chat with each other.
Our plane for this flight, an Embraer E-190, registration mumber ZS-YAD, built in 2017. Airlink only operates Embraers and its the largest Embraer operator in Africa with a total of 70 aircrafts.
At all Airlink flights you have the option to leave your cabin bag at the plane before boarding and collecting by the plane after arrival.
This E-190 has a business class cabin of two rows in a 1+2 configuration with a total of six seats. Economy class has 23 rows in a 2+2 configuration with a total of 92 seats. The flight was full.
Seat 1A. The seat was not in as good condition as on my previous Airlink flights.
Legroom is good.
There was a welcome drink of still or sparkling water or orange juice.
An expected flight time of two hours to Walvis Bay, a refuelling stop of about 25 minutes, followed by a flight of three hours to St Helena was announced.
Push-back was at 09.09 for a scheduled departure time of 09.00. Take-off was at 09.20.
The suburbs of Johannesburg after take-off:
Unlike on almost all other airlines, there was no curtain between business economy, and economy passengers were permitted to use the forward lavatories.
A snack service started 25 minutes after take-off. There was a choice of muffin and tortillas. I chose the latter. It was served with a Wheatsworth cracker, a Vache-qui-rit cheese and a Wedgewood chocolate.
I also had some coffee and a coke.
After this, I was reading a book I had bought in Taiwan. It was partly about Taiwan's relations with South Africa in the 1970s - it was a coincidence I was reading this book on a flight from Johannesburg.
We landed in Walvis Bay at 11.16 to refuel. No passengers can board here as it's not possible to buy a ticket only from Walvis Bay to St Helena. Does anybody know why? Walvis Bay and neighbouring Swakopmund have plenty of facilities from shopping to health services that could be of interest to Saint Helenans, and they're much closer to them than Johannesburg.
The Namib Desert is all around the airport.
Palm trees near the airport:
Airlink's flight engineers travelling on the plane got off for the refuelling but all passengers had to remain onboard.
Not only the plane was refueled but waste was removed and lavatories emptied during the stop.
I was briefly in Walvis Bay by car only about a week earlier. I found it much less interesting than nearby Swakopmund which I loved.
Doors were closed again at 11.41, we departed at 11.45 and took off at 11:51.
The view after take-off:
We had a flight for three hours above the Atlantic Ocean.
A hot towel was offered 50 minutes after take-off.
Beef pastrami, chicken roulade or vegetarian were three options - all of them cold meals.
I had the beef pastrami. It was served with a small salad, a cracker, a small chocolate cake and a piece of Turkish delight.
The meal was tasty, although I had expected a hot meal in business class on this route.
I finished my Taiwanese book in the remaining time. We were above the Atlantic Ocean and it was cloudy anyway, so there was nothing to see outside.
We were already into descent when we started a sudden climb at 1500 feet, and we kept climbing for long minutes. After reaching 5900 feet, we were circling around. An announcement was made later that visibility was low and we had to wait, but no improvement was expected for the next two to three hours. We tried again and the landing was successful.
We landed at 13.13 and were at our parking position at 13.17 for a scheduled arrival time of 13.35.
The terminal building from the appron.
I was first at immigration. Questions were asked: Have you been here before? Where are you staying? Can you show me your hotel booking? Do you have full insurance with evacuation? What's your occupation? But all these happened in a very friendlly way.
Arrivals and departures signs.
The terminal building from landside.
My impressions of Saint Helena
Despite the relatively small size of the island (122 km²), it feels bigger when you drive around, and it has distinctly different landscapes and climates from barren hills to lush subtropical forests. The temperatures have never been below 14 or above 34 degrees in Jamestown, the main town.
The very friendlly population of around 4,400 people have mixed British and African origins. Jamestown is stereotypically British town with its old stone buildings. Small cottages dot the countryside. Life is quiet here, and it's easy to understand why Napoleon was exiled here from 1815 to 1821.
Travelling from and to the island is expensive. Most of those who live here seldom travel abroad, maybe a few times in their lifetime. Those Saints (people from Saint Helena) who work abroad go home maybe once a year. Even ten years after the opening of the airport, the arrival of every flight is an event.
Visiting Saint Helena is a rewarding, once-in-a-lifetime experience. It's a beautiful island and has some of the friendliest people. The motto of the island, a Breath of Fresh Air, is perfectly adequate.
Check who the "guest" of the Consulate Hotel is.
Signs in Jamestown.
The so-called Castle is the seat of the administration.
The 33 meter swimming pool is nice, cheap, mot crowded, and the perfect place to swim.
Evening in Jamestown.
Locals partying on a Saturday evening.
The view from the top of Jacob's Ladder.
The Plantation House is the Governor's House.
The stars of the island are the tortoises. One of them celebrated his 194th birthday a month ago. This photo shows one of his younger friends.
A typical countryside house on Saint Helena.
Licence plate numbers are not complicated.
The apron at the airport before my return flight.
Thank you for reading my flight report. Please feel free to comment.
