building an airport on st. helena

Building an airport on St. Helena

Robbie Lyle Commonwealth Disaster

Management Agency

St. Helena Airport Access Project

with the Department for International Development as Project Promoter

Brief History of St Helena• Strategic role

• Staging Post– East India

Company

• Napoleon

Government Supported Project Finance Initiative

• First of its kind• 18 year pay back period, including 4 year

building stage• Special Purpose Vehicle comprising:

– Government (DFID)– Private Investors (St. Helena Leisure Company

– SHELCO)– Contractors (Impregilo and others)– BNP Paribas

• ECGD and SACE guarantees

The Three Cases for an Airport

Moral Strategic

Financial

Disaster Risk Reduction

Moral• Creation of Sustainable Island

Economy• Social Welfare• Access to Essential Services, such as

Healthcare• Ecological & Geophysical Monitoring• Air Safety• Maritime Safety (Monitoring Cruise

Liners, Cargo Ships & Fishing Fleets)

Strategic• Radionuclide Monitoring• Regulating International Fishing Agreements

eg. ICCAT• Administering strategic investment

strategies in the South Atlantic (Oil and Gas)• Aiding International Disaster Relief

Programmes for both South America and Africa

• Monitoring Climate Change• Pivotal for Trade Routes

Financial• Creation of Sustainable Island

Economy• Reduction and eventual Removal of

DFID Subsidy• Offtake Programme which Finances

Airport Construction

Map of South Atlantic Flight Information Regions

Possibility of Carbon Credits• An environmentally friendly airport?• St Helena as an en route alternate

ETOPS airport fuel reduction • ICAO, UNFCCC, Copenhagen• St Helena, Annex 1 or Annex 2?• St. Helena can act as a gateway for

South America and Africa

Conclusion• A significant new relationship

between public and private financing, which coincides with requirements of international climate change initiatives

• Improving the lives of those on St Helena

• Returning St Helena to the world stage as a vital strategic post

St. Helena Airport Access Project Team

• Robbie Lyle – CDMA• Graham Johnson, Fiona Brenner,

Quentin Macfarlane – Pall Mall Consult

• Patrick Perry – Financial Adviser

Tel: 020 7930 3535email: rlyle@cdma.org.uk

fionab@pallmallconsult.com

88 St James’s StreetLondon SW1A 1PL

CDMA• Robert Lyle founded CDMA in 2000 with Sir

Humphrey Maud, former Deputy Secretary General of The Commonwealth. CDMA offers insurance to small states vulnerable to natural disasters. CDMA are currently in negotiations with the state of Qatar on the creation of a dedicated Insurance Company to cover the risks of natural disasters for the Governments of small states.