Considered the 'most useless airport in the world', the first prototype of the Embraer 190 changed the direction of the airport on the island of Santa Helena, making regular operations possible at the isolated terminal.
The Island of Saint Helena
Located in the South Atlantic Ocean, the Island of Saint Helena became famous for being the last whereabouts of the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, where he remained exiled until the end of his life in 1821, this and other stories show the great importance of the island, which, incidentally, , also has the oldest living land animal, a giant tortoise from the Seychelles named Jonathan, which has already reached the age of 183.
With 5 thousand inhabitants, the Island of Saint Helena has the peculiarity of being one of the most isolated British overseas territories and dependent on the United Kingdom, but which has the importance of being a strategic location for the British. To give you an idea, Angola is the closest country to the island, separated by “only” 1.200 km, while Ascensão Island is the closest island, at 1.125 kilometers away.
Over the years and technological advances, the use of aircraft has become the fastest transatlantic means of transport, but even that was not enough to make the Island of Saint Helena more accessible, because in addition to the island not having a beach due to the high ground, its relief is predominantly composed of volcanic rocks.
To make matters worse, the only way to reach the island was via the Royal Mail St Helena, which made access to the island quite time consuming to Cape Town, with an average duration of 5 days of travel on the high seas. , but over the years, maintaining the Royal Mail St Helena became more expensive and unfeasible, forcing the British government to carry out a broad study for the construction of an airport on the island.
In September 2008, the Governor of the Council of Saint Helena granted permission to start work on the Airport and related infrastructure. The contract with Design, Build and Operate St Helena Airport was awarded to a South African construction company in 2011 and signed on November 3, 2011, giving hope for an end to long sea journeys.
After long studies and partnerships with private companies for the construction of the new airport, the project was ready, but an unnoticed detail almost ruined the entire investment for the new terminal, since during the works the wind shears were not addressed (windshear) that were constant on the island, especially during the approach to runway 20 (currently 19), putting in doubt not only the inauguration, but the full functioning of the airport, which ironically ended up being dubbed “the most useless airport in the world” by the media british.
Test flights: the game changer for the future of the airport
Although the Santa Helena Airport opened in June 2016, the first ongoing flight tests involving a medium-sized jet began in the same month with a Boeing 737-800 registration ZS-ZWG of the South American airline. African Comair.
Although the use of the airport by small aircraft was a success, the same did not occur with larger jet aircraft, such as Comair's boeing 737-800.
To try to get around the situation, it was decided to make the landings on runway 02 (current 01), despite not having the problem of windshear, the landing on the south side coincided precisely with the direction of the wind, and thus, the aircraft would only land with a tailwind, and the recommendation is the headwind (against the wind) for a safe landing.
As a result, it was found to be unfeasible to use the 737 on the island, which has a runway 1.950 meters long, causing Comair to give up operating on the island, as strong winds made it difficult to operate the Boeing 737-800 on the island, placing in check your future
Since a Boeing 737 was operating on the verge of its operational limit, with the wind and runway as unfavorable points, who to turn to? Embraer enters the scene.
The first prototype of the Embraer 190 visits the island of Santa Helena
Aware of the need to operate a suitable jet at the Santa Helena airport, Embraer sent its first E-jet 2017 prototype, registration PP-XMA, to the island in January 190 to carry out data collection under adverse conditions.
As the landing and takeoff tests progressed on the island with the Brazilian jet, Embraer managed to prove that it was feasible for an airline to operate regularly on the island, changing the direction of the airport that was previously seen as a white elephant and now would have the green light. to carry out regular business operations.
On the occasion, Embraer released a video with details of the special mission that forever changed the course of one of the most isolated islands in the world, see the video below:
Embraer brought a new reality to the Island
As the Embraer 190 not only had the autonomy to make nonstop flights, but also made a stop at Walvis Bay Airport (WVB), the E-JET, which previously carried 76 engers, now operates at full capacity (98 engers) thanks to to upgrades made to the engines.
Furthermore, the size of the jet was not a problem for operations, unlike the Boeing 737-800, which needed to operate with reduced weight and enger capacity.
After the green light for operations with a jet, commercial air services began on October 14, 2017 with an Embraer 190 from South African Airlink. At the time, the airline operated a weekly flight connecting Saint Helena to South Africa, in addition to a monthly flight connecting Saint Helena to Ascension Island.
Interestingly, before starting operations, Airlink performed a total of 13 flight tests at Santa Helena airport with touch and go (TGL) procedures to certify that the Embraer 190 would be ready to operate its newest destination.
See how the inaugural flight was at the time:
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In addition to the Embraer 190, other jet aircraft have also landed on the island, such as an Airbus A318 and a Boeing 757, both from Titan Airways:
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