The first scheduled commercial airplane has landed the remote British island St Helena the middle of the South Atlantic. The SA AirLink service South Africa touched at Saint Helena Airport Saturday with 68 passengers board. One passenger, Libby Weir-Breen, a British travel operator, had flown from Scotland especially to be the flight. She said: "I've never felt so emotional in all my life. I never thought I'd see this day." The inaugural flight marks a new era accessibility for the island, which is 1,900 km west the African nation of Angola. Previously, the only way of getting to Saint Helena was a ship that sailed once every three weeks from Cape Town, South Africa.
Despite the positive social and economic effects the airport will have the island and its tourism, the British media have dubbed it as "the most useless airport the world". The airport was built $380m of British taxpayers' money. That's $80,000 each of the island's inhabitants. It was beset delays and was due to open in 2016, but dangerous wind conditions delayed the launch. The Governor of Saint Helena, Lisa Phillips, dismissed the criticism. She said: "I've seen the headlines the world's most useless airport, but St Helena, this has already been the most useful airport. It's priceless." She added: "I one am getting really excited the new chapter St Helena's history."
