Transportation - note In 30 editions of 36.

• the new airport on Saint Helena opened for limited operations in 2016, and the first commercial flight took place in 2017;
• the military airport on Ascension Island is closed to civilian traffic;
• there is no air connection to Tristan da Cunha and very limited sea connections

• US coastal stations include McMurdo (77 51 S, 166 40 E) and Palmer (64 43 S, 64 03 W);
• government use only;
• all ships are subject to inspection in accordance with Article 7 of the Antarctic Treaty;
• ships must comply with relevant legal instruments and authorization procedures under the Antarctic Treaty (see "Legal System");
• The Hydrographic Commission on Antarctica (HCA), a commission of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), coordinates and facilitates provision of accurate and appropriate charts and other aids to navigation;
• membership in HCA is open to any IHO Member State whose government has acceded to the Antarctic Treaty and which contributes resources or data to IHO Chart coverage of the area

• begun in 1988 and completed in 1994, the Channel Tunnel (nicknamed the Chunnel) is a 50.5-km (31.4-mi) rail tunnel under the English Channel at the Strait of Dover;
• it runs from Folkestone, Kent, in England to Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais, in northern France and is the only fixed link between the island of Great Britain and mainland Europe

• begun in 1988 and completed in 1994, the Channel Tunnel (nicknamed the Chunnel) is a 50.5-km (31.4-mi) rail tunnel under the English Channel at the Strait of Dover;
• it runs from Folkestone, Kent, in England to Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais, in northern France and is the only fixed link between the island of Great Britain and mainland Europe

sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes; the Northwest Passage (North America) and Northern Sea Route (Eurasia) are important seasonal waterways

• Kiel Canal and Saint Lawrence Seaway are two important waterways;
• significant domestic commercial and recreational use of Intracoastal Waterway on central and south Atlantic seaboard and Gulf of America coast of US

Drake Passage offers alternative to transit through the Panama Canal