Ascension Island - Transport

Transport

In 2003 the British and US governments signed the Wideawake agreement designed to allow a limited amount of non-scheduled civilian aircraft to land on Ascension Island, under responsibility of the British government. The island has a regular airlink with the United Kingdom and the Falkland Islands, with twice weekly flights from the RAF Ascension Island to the UK (RAF Brize Norton) and to the Falkland Islands (RAF Mount Pleasant). These are chartered civilian Airbus A330 aircraft operated by Hi Fly a Portuguese airline (previously by Air Seychelles) on behalf of the Royal Air Force, however a limited number of commercial passenger tickets are available. All visitors to Ascension Island need the Administrator's written permission before travelling. The United States maintains a weekly flight between the island and Patrick Air Force Base in Florida for the use of its personnel only.

The RMS Saint Helena visits Ascension Island approximately once a month linking the island to St Helena and Cape Town. The US military service their base and facilities with a regular supply ship (MV Ascension) and air transport.

There is no taxi service on the island and most visitors requiring transport rent a car. There are around 40 kilometres (25 mi) of roads on the island, all of which are surfaced. Some sections of the surfacing was done using surplus tarmac from construction of the airstrip. Traffic drives on the left.