世界尽头也通飞机了?
A tiny volcanic island located right in the middle of the South Atlantic, St. Helena is without a doubt one of the world's hardest-to-reach places.
位于南大西洋中部的小火山岛圣·海伦娜无疑是世界上最遥远的地方之一了。
In fact, its inaccessibility led the British to choose it as a prison island for Napoleon Bonaparte, who was exiled here in 1815.
事实上,它是如此的偏远以至于英国人把它作为1815年流放拿破仑·波拿巴的监狱岛。
Napoleon never lived to make it off the island, but a new air service from New York is about to make this remote British possession that much easier for international tourists to visit -- and to leave.
拿破仑没能活着到达这座岛,不过最近纽约的一家航空公司正让这座遥远的英国岛变得对于游客来说更加容易抵达和离开。
United Airlines has introduced a new nonstop flight service from New York/Newark to Cape Town, beginning December 15, 2019, which will be able to connect to new seasonal flights from Cape Town to St Helena operated by regional South African airline Airlink.
联合航空公司引入了一条新的直飞航班,从纽约市纽瓦克机场到达开普敦,该航班将从2019年12月15日开始启用,该航班可以连通由南美航线航空公司开通的从开普敦岛圣·海伦娜的航班。
Airlink will operate flights every Tuesday from Cape Town to St Helena from December 3, 2019 to February 25, 2020 (excluding Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve).
航线公司将从2019年3月岛2020年2月25日的每周二开通从开普敦前往圣·海伦娜的航班。
That's in addition to Airlink's existing Johannesburg to St Helena flights, which operate every Saturday.
这是新增的航班,以前航线公司还有一班飞机从约翰内斯堡飞往圣·海伦娜,该航班每周六运行。
Sounds infrequent?
听起来好像航班有点少?
Well, until 2017, St Helena didn't have a commercial flight service at all.
其实,在2017年之前,圣·海伦娜根本都不通飞机。
Until a few years ago, the island's only regular link to the outside world was RMS St. Helena, the mail ship that, every three weeks, covered the five-and-a-half day journey from Cape Town, South Africa.
几年前,这座岛跟外界的唯一交通方式只有RMS圣·海伦娜号邮船,每三个星期,它会从南非开普敦出发,展开这场五天半的航程。
In 2016, with much fanfare, St. Helena prepared to inaugurate its first ever airport -- but then an unexpected obstacle got in the way: the South Atlantic winds.
2016年,圣·海伦娜终于准备隆重开通它的首个航班—但遇到了一个意想不到的困难—南大西洋信风。
South African airline Comair, a British Airways franchise, planned to start flights to the island in May 2016 using a Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
南非卡莫尔航空公司,是一家英国所属的连锁航空公司,本来计划2016年5月用波音737-800开通前往这座岛的航班。
However, a serious wind shear issue was detected as soon as the airliner attempted to land.
不过,在飞机准备着陆时遇到了非常严重的风阻。
The wind shear only affects aircraft when landing from the north, but if the aircraft approaches from the south, there's a problem with tailwinds.
当飞机从北部着陆时才会遇到风阻,但如果飞机从南部着陆又会遇到顺风的问题。
Prevailing tailwinds mean that aircraft need a longer runway to land with a full load.
经常性的顺风意味着满载的飞机需要更长的跑道才能着陆。
Smaller aircraft can still land, but size and weight limitations mean the route's uneconomic for most airlines.
小型的飞机还是可以着陆的,但型号和载重的限制意味着对于大部分航线来说都不具有经济价值。
Atlantic Star Airlines, a start-up founded by former British Airways pilots with the purpose of linking St. Helena to the UK, advocated the use of Avro RJ100 aircraft, a now-aging model that nevertheless has the capability to land on very short runways.
大西洋之星航空公司,是由英国前航线的飞行员为了连通圣·海伦娜和英国而建立的,使用了Avro RJ100机型,这是一种老式的飞机,但是它可以在很短的跑道上着陆。
Although it executed a successful stopover in 2016, the Avro option fell to the wayside.
尽管2016年时它成功着陆了一次,Avro这一选项还是被人们放弃了。
Then Embraer, the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, flew one of its Embraer E190 jets from Fortaleza, Brazil direct to St. Helena.
后来,巴西航空公司将其E190号飞机从巴西的福塔雷萨直接飞到了圣·海伦娜。
As well as demonstrating the capabilities of this aircraft type and its suitability for operations in the island, the Brazilian firm's publicity stunt left us with stunning footage of St.Helena's natural beauty.
在展示这种机型的能力和稳定的操作的同时,这家巴西航空公司的公开炫耀也给我们带来了圣·海伦娜优美自然风光的绝美照片。
When Airlink finally stepped in to launch its St. Helena to Johannesburg in 2017, it was an Embraer E190 which finally connected St. Helena to the outside world by air.
2017年航线公司最终开通了其从约翰内斯堡到圣·海伦娜的航线,不过还是靠巴西航公公司的E190首次把圣·海伦娜和外部世界用飞机联系在了一起。
When looking at St. Helena's tiny dot on the map it's easy to forget it played host to the likes of Napoleon, Darwin and Halley and was once right in the middle of one of the most important trade routes in the world.
当望着地图上圣·海伦娜这个小点时,人们很容易忘记它曾经接待过像拿破仑,达尔文还有哈雷这一的大人物,还曾经是世界上最重要的贸易路线中的一站。
What geography gave, geography took away and the ocean that once linked it to the epicenters of culture and commerce became, in later times, a formidable barrier.
成也地理,败也地理,曾经将它联系到文化和贸易中心的海洋后来也成了它与世隔绝的障碍。
However, as the island prepares to open itself further to the world, St. Helena might still emerge as a destination of choice for the world's most discerning tourists.
不过,随着这座岛的进一步开放,圣·海伦娜仍然可能会成为世界上最有眼力的游客们的目的地。
A hidden treasure waiting to be rediscovered.
岛上还有很多隐藏的宝藏等着被人们发现。
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