Able will be island: Air St Helena

It's been awhile since Napoleon's final residing place mattered to much of anyone, but a new airline hopes to change that;

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.

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.

The only way to get to it was on a slow boat from South Africa. Once every three weeks. However;

A brand new airport is due to open in 2016 and some airlines are already making plans to ease the island's isolation.

Comair, a South African airline and British Airways franchisee, has already been selected to operate a weekly flight between the island and Johannesburg.

Meanwhile Atlantic Star Airlines, a start-up founded by former British Airways pilots, is readying its project to link St. Helena to the UK by air.

For a taste of the experience, there's always the 1972 movie Eagle In a Cage with Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud. Even available for free on You Tube;