Bringing air travel to one of the world's most remote communities is not proving as easy as officials hoped for at a brand new international airport.

The volcanic outpost of St. Helena in the South Atlantic has been restricted in options for travel as long as it has been inhabited, relying on weekly ship connections to bring vital produce, mail and a means of traveling to the outside world.

The dream of building an airport on St. Helena has long been in the planning stages, and much delayed from the original estimation of a 2010 opening. However, on Sept. 13, 2015, the first aircraft landed on the new runway, which has been constructed in a gulch that has in some places been raised 100 meters to create a flat plateau suitable for large aircraft. This first aircraft completed calibration exercises to set up the navigational aids to help pilots that would eventually provide commercial links.

The potential for air travel to St. Helena is expected to bring a turning point in the island's economy. In the first part, scheduled links will be flown to London via Johannesburg using British Airways and its partner Comair. Virtual airline Atlantic Star Airlines will also charter Boeing 737s to fly to the island from London via a technical stop in Banjul, Gambia.

For locals living on the island it is an important step in gaining access to the United Kingdom, for which St. Helena is an overseas territory. However, inbound tourism is also set to flourish, bringing income and jobs to the place where Napoleon was imprisoned and died.

The unique terrain features of St. Helena have made it difficult to bring air travel to the island.

Last week, a route-proving flight was operated by Comair with one of its Boeing 737-800s from Johannesburg to St. Helena. The plan was to test and prove the efficiency of the whole process, from approach to turnaround and departure, looking at the navigational aids, any issues with the airport infrastructure, and giving staff chance to demonstrate their role on a real aircraft.

The purpose of this kind of operation is to highlight any problems, and unfortunately there were issues evident that have resulted in the airport deciding to delay the start of commercial flights. One of the problems experienced was on the approach to Runway 20, where turbulence and windshear were encountered from the strong weather patterns and unusual terrain at the airport.

The directors of Atlantic Star commented on the situation in a news statement: "The team at A-Star appreciate that this announcement will disappoint the many passengers who reserved a place on these services by joining the A-Star Priority Club, as well as those who intended to take advantage of the service launch offers from St. Helena to the U.K."

A planned opening ceremony at the airport on May 20 has been postponed, with an official statement commenting: "All parties are now working hard to get a better understanding of how windshear conditions can be mitigated at St. Helena Airport — assessing what measures need to be taken to ensure the safety of incoming aircraft landing on Runway 20. Everyone involved remains committed to commencing commercial flights to and from St. Helena at the earliest possible opportunity."

While windshear and crosswind conditions are well within the capabilities of most airline pilots, the unique situation at St. Helena with emergency response capabilities and options for diverting mean more attention to detail. An extra cautious attitude is part of the certification process.