St Helena’s only airport is closed indefinitely after its fire vehicles fail safety audit
February 10, 2026
The airport on the remote island of St Helena in the southern Atlantic Ocean has been forced to close after its firefighting vehicles failed a recent safety audit. The airport has been closed until further notice as a consequence and is not expected to reopen to commercial flights until 20 February at the earliest.
St Helena Airport closed due to fire truck fault
The only airport on the remote island of St Helena, located in the southern Atlantic Ocean, has been forced to close indefinitely after a safety audit discovered faults with the airport’s firefighting vehicles. Without the necessary fire cover in place, the airport is not licensed to operate as a commercial airfield and has been forced to close as a result.
A major incident has been declared by the local government after checks found that two of the airport’s fire appliances failed to meet international safety standards, forcing it to halt operations.
According to a local media report, one of the fire vehicles has a technical fault, which means that it cannot deliver the requisite amount of fire retardant should there be an aircraft fire. Another of the three vehicles is also unserviceable, awaiting spares to be delivered from the mainland.
St Helena is cut off from its one commercial flight per week
The airport at St Helena (HLE) serves as the primary route on and off the island, which lies around 1,200 miles (1,900km) off the south-west African coast and is home to around 4,500 people. The island, which is a British overseas territory, covers a total area of 47 square miles (121 square km).
The island receives one commercial flight per week, operated by South African carrier Airlink from Johannesburg.
While some small aircraft, such as those used for medical evacuations, are still permitted to operate from the airport, officials on the island have said that the weekly scheduled passenger flights will be cancelled “until at least 20 February”.
The UK government has been alerted to the situation, and a specialist emergency task team has been set up on the island to work towards reopening the airport as soon as practicable.
The next Airlink flight due to operate to the island and scheduled for 14 February has been cancelled, with the flight due the following week also now in doubt.
At a press conference, the island’s governor, Nigel Phillips, said, “The airport fire engines have each developed a fault. This degrades the level of fire cover that can be provided. [As a result of those faults], there is insufficient fire suppressant that could be put onto an aircraft if needed”.
St Helena’s government responds to the airport closure
In an official statement, the island’s government said, “The St Helena Government regrets to inform the public that St Helena Airport is currently unable to operate as normal. Following technical assessments, the aviation regulator is expected to confirm that the airport must be downgraded from Category Six.”
“This decision is based on fixed international safety requirements and a lack of confidence in the operational readiness of the fire tenders, meaning the airport cannot safely support standard flight operations at this time.
“A downgrade from Category Six means Airlink will not operate. As such, Airlink flights will be cancelled until the issue can be resolved. We believe that at this stage, this will affect all flights until at least 20 February. We will keep future flights under review until we can give certainty around the resumption of business as usual. We are working to confirm whether medical evacuation flights will be affected.”
“We recognise that this will affect many people, including those with upcoming travel plans, those expecting visitors and individuals with urgent medical needs that require travel off-Island. We know this will cause concern, and we are deeply aware of the disruption this situation creates for families, businesses and the wider community.”
“We are working urgently with all stakeholders to understand the full impact. This includes close cooperation with Airlink and other partners so that we can address questions, provide clarity where possible and ensure that advice and updates are consistent and timely.”
St Helena secures permission for medevac flights
The closure of St Helena Airport has caused concern among the local population, who rely on the weekly Airlink service to access medical care and other essential services in South Africa, the nearest country to the island.
Additionally, since the airport opened in 2016, the island has attracted an increase in tourism, which has become the main focus for the island since the airport was built, and could be damaged by this incident.
With journeys to St Helena taking five days by sea, residents are now facing difficulties leaving the island, while a group of tourists who flew to the island in recent days are now stranded until the Airlink services resume.
The group is also facing additional costs for food and hotel accommodation while they await the issue to be resolved. The island’s government has advised those affected to contact their airline and travel insurers for further advice.
However, a small silver lining is that the St Helena government has shared that the airport has secured regulatory approval to operate at Category 4.
“This certification will permit small aircraft, such as medical evacuation flights, to use the airport,” the government noted. “This provides additional reassurance to the public in the event of medical emergencies. It also opens up a viable air transport route for essential spare parts and technical personnel.”
However, the release also confirmed that, “This categorisation does not allow for the resumption of Airlink commercial airline operations.”
St Helena Airport: The windy rock in the mid Atlantic
The UK government-funded airport on St Helena opened to general aviation traffic in 2016 and to commercial airline flights the following year.
However, frequent flight cancellations due to windshear issues at the airport curtailed its early success, with many UK politicians, as well as others, claiming the airport to be a £300 million ($405 million) “white elephant”.
In response to the wind shear problems, it was decided that only approaches to runway 02 at the airport could be permitted, and that the largest aircraft permitted to use the airport would be the Embraer Regional Jet series, rather than the Boeing 737 that the airport had been planned around.
In recent years, South Africa’s Airlink has been serving the island on its once-a-week service from Johannesburg. Using a high-gross-weight Embraer ERJ-190.
The airline’s outbound service (flight number 4Z131) flies from Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport (JNB) to Walvis Bay Airport (WVB) in Namibia to upload extra fuel before heading across the Atlantic Ocean to St Helena.
This is so that if the aircraft cannot land at St Helena, it can safely return to Walvis Bay with existing fuel reserves. The return flight from St Helena to Johannesburg (flight 4Z132) operates directly and takes around four hours and 30 minutes.
Featured image: St Helena Government
