Not a runway success

In 2017 the opening of the new £278 million international airport on the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena was delayed indefinitely due to high winds. A regular scheduled air service, as originally planned, has not been reinstated — although one-off flights have taken place.

Not only is the airport prey to severe wind shear (a potentially fatal weather condition for aircraft landing) but the runway runs dramatically along the side of a cliff, coming to an abrupt end with only the ocean ahead.

It sounds less like an international airport, more of an elaborate plot by Wile E Coyote to trap Roadrunner.