After a Covid-induced pause in international
travel, DXpeditions to remote locations are again on the increase. There has been
much written about planned trips to Bouvet, and now a solo DXpedition to Crozet
(FT5/W) is on the calendar as well. The Crozet Islands are a subantarctic archipelago
in the southern Indian Ocean administered by France, and are a national
conservation area. 
The Crozet archipelago (circled) is part
of the French Southern and Antarctic
Territories, shown in this regional map
from the CIA World Factbook.
The last ham radio operation from Crozet was in 2009 and that islands rank #3 on the DXCC most-wanted list. The ARRL Letter is reporting that French authorities have approved a one-person DXpedition to the archipelago between mid-December 2022 and mid-March 2023 by Thierry Mazel, F6CUK.
INDEXA,
the International DX Association <www.indexa.org>, has already committed
to supporting the trip, although the amount of its donation was not announced.
It is not clear at this point how long Mazel plans to be on the islands or what
call sign he will be using there. He notes on his Twitter feed (@Crozet2022)
that initial reports of re-using a previously-issued call sign are incorrect
and says the call to be used on this trip will not be announced in advance.
