Ever wanted to visit the British island of St. Helena? Of course you haven’t. Virtually no one does. But now you can.

Reuters reports that officials on the isolated isle have welcomed the first commercial flight to St. Helena Airport, a hub that’s better known by its nickname “the world’s most useless airport.”

St. Helena, located 1,200 miles west of the African nation of Angola, is literally in the middle of nowhere, floating in the Atlantic ocean between Brazil and the African coastline. It has a population of 4,500 people and is best known as the place where Napoleon Bonaparte died.

While there has been talk of building an airport on the island since the 1930s, those plans hit a series of roadblocks, from issues with the rocky terrain to the environmental impact on endangered species. Even when a suitable spot was found, cost overruns resulted in a £285 million tab for the facility.

And when the airport was finished last year, notes Reuters, the opening was delayed due to safety fears. That’s about the time the nickname began being commonly used.

The issues have been largely resolved now (flight sizes are restricted due to wind-sheer concerns) and on Saturday, the first flight, with 68 people aboard, landed safely. Locals are hoping that makes the island a more appealing spot for tourists.

“I’ve seen the headlines about the world’s most useless airport, but for St. Helenans this has already been the most useful airport,” said Governor Lisa Phillips. “It’s priceless.”

想不想去英属圣赫勒拿岛看看？你没想过很正常。几乎没人考虑过。但现在可以考虑了。

这座与世隔绝的岛上有座圣赫勒拿机场，以“全球最无用机场”著称。不过，据路透社报道，当地政府最近迎来首个商务航班。

圣赫勒拿位于非洲国家安哥拉西部，相距约1931公里，跟哪都不接壤，飘浮巴西和非洲海岸线之间的大西洋上，人口4500人。圣赫勒拿最有名的一点就是，法国政治家、军事家拿破仑一世在岛上去世。

虽然自上世纪30年代以来就一直在讨论修机场，但碰到了一系列困难，当地的岩石地貌就有问题，对环境造成的影响可能威胁到某些物种生存。选定机场地点以后，修建工程又严重超支，最终成本高达2.85亿英镑。

路透社报道指出，去年机场终于竣工后，开幕典礼还因出现安全隐患而推迟举行。也是从那时开始，外界常用“全球最无用机场”代称圣赫勒拿机场。

现在，问题基本都已解决（因担心风切变影响安全，飞机大小受到限制）。今年10月14日，首架载有68名乘客的航班在圣赫勒拿岛安全着陆。圣赫勒拿政府希望，顺利首航之后能提高该岛对游客的吸引力。

圣赫勒拿总督丽莎·菲利普斯表示：“我看到一些媒体报道拿全球最无用机场做文章，可对圣赫勒拿人来说，这就是最有用的机场，是无价之宝。”（财富中文网）

译者：Pessy

审校：夏林