§ Lord Beaumont of Whitleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
How soon they expect Ascension Island to be open to civilian flights and what civilian flights they expect to use the facility when it opens. [HL554]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanNegotiations to open up Wideawake airfield on Ascension to civilian aircraft are continuing with the United States, which operates the airfield under the Bahamas Agreement of 1956. The next round of negotiations is scheduled to take place in Washington before Easter. We cannot at present estimate when civilian flights might begin. Once Ascension is open to civilian air traffic, we expect charter and cargo flights to be the initial civilian users of the airport.