Strategic Relevance
The airport will extend the United Kingdom's capabilities to carry out airborne missions in the South Atlantic region, such as maritime patrols in accordance with international fishing agreements (e.g. ICCAT), counter-piracy missions along important trade routes, and also airlift operations notably into Southern Africa.
According to analysts the UK government's decision to finally go ahead with the airport, after long delays, seems to be driven in part by concerns over a continuing tense standoff with Argentina in the sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands. The island is about 3,812 miles (seven hours and 40 minutes flight time) from the Falklands. But, analysts say that was nevertheless an improvement over the present state of isolation from the UK for both St. Helena and the Falklands.
Read more about this topic: Saint Helena Airport
Famous quotes containing the words strategic and/or relevance:
“The practice of S/M is the creation of pleasure.... And that’s why S/M is really a subculture. It’s a process of invention. S/M is the use of a strategic relationship as a source of pleasure.”
—Michel Foucault (1926–1984)
“... whatever men do or know or experience can make sense only to the extent that it can be spoken about. There may be truths beyond speech, and they may be of great relevance to man in the singular, that is, to man in so far as he is not a political being, whatever else he may be. Men in the plural, that is, men in so far as they live and move and act in this world, can experience meaningfulness only because they can talk with and make sense to each other and to themselves.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)