Co-op also airlifted fresh food
THE Co-operative has airlifted supplies to its stores on Shetland after ferries and freight boats were disrupted for several days by the severe weather.
The retailer chartered an ATR 72F, a twin engine turboprop transporter plane, to make two trips from Aberdeen to Sumburgh airport on Sunday.
It departed from Aberdeen at 12.50pm, before returning and making its final flight at 6.45pm, and carried more than 40 pallets of fresh, chilled and ambient products, including turkeys and other festive essentials, for its stores in Brae and Lerwick.
The Co-op Food’s regional stores director in Scotland, John McNeill, said: “It is one of the busiest times of year for us and we had to pull out all the stops to make sure our stores on Shetland, as well as across the highlands and islands, were stocked in time for Christmas.
“There had been no sailings to Shetland for several days because of the gales and high seas and we decided to take this extreme measure to make sure our Shetland stores had the supplies they needed to meet our customers’ needs.
“We have chartered freight planes before to ensure our deliveries get through to our stores in some of the remotest parts of the UK. Everyone involved went the extra mile to get the job done.”
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