British charter airline Titan Airways will operate a repatriation flight to Saint Helena with a Boeing 757-200, the biggest passenger jet to ever operate a flight to the British Overseas Territory.
Titan Airways operating the Boeing 757 to St. Helena is unexpected. 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.
Embraer later proved the E-jets could safely operate to and from the island airport, after which South African Airways subsidairy Airlink started flying to the Airport. The airline uses an Embraer 190 on the route from Johannesburg to St. Helena via Windhoek, the capital of Namibia.
St. Helena has wanted an air connection to Europe, specifically the United Kingdom, for a long time. Unfortunately for the island, no airlines were interested in operating such a flight.
Titan Air 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.