HUNDREDS of St Helena ex-pats living in Swindon will soon be able to visit home more often after the Government announced an airport would be built on the island.

St Helena, a remote British territory in the South Atlantic, will finally get its first fully-operational airport by 2015, after years of negotiations.

The news has delighted an estimated 800 St Helenians in Swindon – dubbed Swindelena – which is thought to be the largest single community of ex-pat Saints in the UK outside of London.

Many of them, who have come to Swindon to find work, have not been home for years because a return trip can cost around £1,500 per person and take weeks.

Today Andrew Mitchell, the international development secretary, and Jimmy Johnston, the director of contractor Basil Read, will visit Swindon to update Saints on progress.

To get to St Helena at the moment, ex-pats can take an eight-hour flight from RAF Brize Norton, in Oxfordshire, to Accession Island, and then a three-day boat trip to St Helena.

Alternatively, they can take a 12-hour flight to Cape Town, South Africa, from a civilian airport, followed by a one-week boat crossing to the island. The new airport is expected to cut the whole journey to about 12 hours.

Sylvia Langham, 56, of Penhill, who has not been home since 2002, said: “People in this country don’t have the opportunity to go home to see their family when they would like.

“They cannot just get on a flight and go, because it takes anything up to four of five weeks – that’s just in travel, because you have to wait around to catch the boat.

“Because it’s a ship and flight you cannot actually fly directly, which we will be able to do soon. We will be able to just take a normal holiday without having to take unpaid holiday.”

Sylvia, a chef and mother-of-one, said the airport would also save lives by allowing ill Saints to be taken abroad more quickly for treatment not available at the local hospital, and would also boost the economy through eco tourism.

Natasha Stroud, 44, of Gorse Hill, who grew up on the island and has not been home for nearly 10 years, said: “Hopefully it will allow us to get home more quickly.

“You need at least two weeks for travel at the moment, and that’s before your holiday can start, and most times you cannot get that time off work.”

Natasha, a mother-of-two and kitchen porter, echoed the healthcare and economic benefits of the airport.

Sylvia is holding a St Helena Day Dance Party today at the County Ground, at 7pm, in aid of the charity St Helena Friends United, which helps those in need in the UK and on the island.