RAF Ascension Island guide

RAF Ascension Island, also called Wideawake Airfield, sits on the south-west side of Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. It is a military airfield owned by the UK Ministry of Defence and run jointly by the Royal Air Force and the United States Space Force. The US built it in 1942 as a wartime staging point, and it has been in continuous use for air operations since.

A single asphalt runway, 13/31, measures 3,054 metres. The length suits large transport and tanker aircraft, and the airfield became one of the busiest in the world for a short time during the 1982 Falklands War. The US Space Force also operates a ground tracking station on the island.

The airfield is not open to general commercial traffic. Under a UK-US agreement, only state aircraft may land, with one exception for civil flights between Ascension and Saint Helena. A South African carrier, Airlink, has flown a monthly charter on that route since November 2017. No public passenger statistics are published, and there is no commercial passenger terminal, so travellers need prior clearance and a confirmed onward booking before they travel.