A Titan Airways Boeing 757 has landed at Saint Helena airport on Thursday. The aircraft is the largest airliner ever to land at the airport.
The flight is meant to repatriate travellers from the British Overseas Territory island. Normally, it is only possible to fly from and to Saint Helena by taking one of the South African Airlink Johannesburg flights. The only alternative to the flight to Johannesburg is the boat to Cape Town, which comes to the island every few weeks. By now, the aircraft is back enroute to London.
A 757 landing on the island is special, as a jet of this size has never landed Saint Helena. However, several flights have actually been performed to the island with the Lockheed C-130 “Hercules”. The Airport, which opened just a few years ago, is notorious for it’s windshear. When South African Airline Comair flew their Boeing 737-800 to the island, the airport was deemed unfit for commercial 737 flights. Titan Air specifically has operated a flight to St. Helena before, to bring medical personnel to the island. The flight was operated by an Airbus A318 and made a stop in Accra, Ghana. The Boeing 757 flight wil operate from the United Kingdom to St. Helena via Ascension island.