Chris Smith speaks with Troyd Bowles, chief pilot at the Falkland Islands Government Air Service (FIGAS), to learn more about the operation of one of the world’s most unusual airlines.
There are few places where aircraft are just as essential as the automobile, but the Falkland Islands is certainly one of them. This tiny archipelago is strewn over an area spanning only 160 miles by 90 miles, with most of its 778 islands remaining uninhabited. As a British Overseas Territory – which makes them quintessentially British – there is also a freedom of self-governance, which is enacted by the local legislative assembly. Situated roughly 300 miles east from the South American coastline, the climate can be punishing. Unrelenting winds can churn up layers of thick cloud, engulfing the relatively flat and mostly barren landscape.