How many times have you been asked your weight when checking-in at an airport?

It's something you will be asked before flying on an Island Airways plane! In part two of this conversation with Angela LeFevre-Welke she talks about flying ferrets and all the curiosities that come with running a private air service. She also explains how the business adapted to the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic presented. 

This programme was broadcast on Falklands Radio on July 10, 2020

Photograph courtesy of Island Airways: The Island Airways fleet

What are the similarities between an American island-hopping air service and a Falklands one?

Island-hopping services are unique, transporting livestock, people, and supplies to remote locations. The challenges of the business are well-known by those of Island Airways in Lake Michigan. The business has been providing aviation services to Charlevoix and Beaver Island for more than 70 years. Their fleet made up of Britten Norman Islanders, Piper Apache and Piper Aztec aircraft can transport up to nine people at a time and freight anything from TV sets to lambs. Angela LeFevre-Welke explains what life is like providing this essential service.

This programme was broadcast on Falklands Radio on July 3, 2020

Photograph courtesy of Island Airways: Paul Welke and Angela LeFevre-Welke from Island Airways based on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan USA

Who are the people that clear landmines?

Groups of highly-trained 'deminers' have been travelling between Zimbabwe and the Falkland Islands to clear minefields for over 11 years.

Over 20,000 landmines were laid by Argentine forces in 1982, and in 2020 the Falkland Islands will be landmine free for the first time in 38 years. Due to the global pandemic, most of the men involved have left the Islands before the completion of the project. 

Falklands Radio attended a goodbye reception on June 19 and spoke to those who were departing.

This programme was broadcast on Falklands Radio on June 25, 2020

A Nightingale-style hospital was built in the Falkland Islands in June.

Over three days a 36-bed ward was assembled, tested, and dismantled in Stanley Leisure Centre. The exercise was a collaboration between the King Edward Memorial Hospital and British Forces South Atlantic. The exercise practised how, and where, health authorities would manage if there was a COVID-19 outbreak in the Falklands. The temporary facility was assembled in under six hours. Those involved, including the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Rebecca Edwards, spoke about the logistics behind such an operation.

Stanley Nightingale exercise ran over June 17, 18 and 19. This programme was broadcast on Falklands Radio on June 22, 2020.

Award-winning author, Jennifer Kingsley, shares her experience of documenting life in the Falkland Islands.

The Canadian naturalist has spent years visiting arctic communities and learning about their cultures. During her first trip to the Falklands, she spent time with the men removing landmines from the 1982 conflict and visited farmers working in the camp. 

Jenny is the author of Paddlenorth: Adventure, Resilience, and Renewal in the Arctic Wild, which won the top prize for literary non-fiction at the National Outdoor Book Awards in 2015. Her work as a broadcast journalist has been played around the world and recognized by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

This programme was broadcast on Falklands Radio on November 8, 2019

Photograph: Eric Guth

Falkland Islander, Sonia, is a junior doctor working in England. 

She speaks about her training and preparations for the COVID-19 pandemic to hit her hospital.

This programme was broadcast on Falklands Radio on May 8, 2020

Falkland Islander, Bethan Halliday, is working on the front line in an English hospital.

The NHS nurse talks about how she has been affected by working in a busy teaching hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 This programme was broadcast on Falklands Radio on April 20, 2020

How are families in Stanley coping with home-schooling?

Two families with young children speak about how they have adapted their daily routines to fit around teaching their children whilst working from home.

This programme was broadcast on Falklands Radio on April 16, 2020

The Falkland Islands Broadband Press Conference

Held on 2nd October 2019

New Packages Starting in December 2019