Community / No immediate return of Sunday papers despite airline increasing schedule
THERE appears to be no prospect of Sunday newspapers being on offer across Shetland any time soon despite airline Loganair increasing the frequency of flights to Sumburgh.
The papers are thought to have been largely off limits for the last number of months due to Loganair’s skeleton schedule which only included an evening arrival into Sumburgh on Sundays.
Loganair’s timetable will change from 3 May to reflect tourist travel opening up again, but a spokesperson said the delivery of Sunday papers remains unviable.
For example, the single flight from Aberdeen to Sumburgh on Sunday 9 May only arrives in Shetland at 7pm.
“Loganair is increasing its schedule throughout the summer in line with customer demand,” the spokesperson said.
“However, the resumed Sunday service does not lend itself to the delivery of Sunday papers that would make it a viable option for the supplier at this time.
“The introduction of additional flying to Shetland and across the wider Loganair network continues to be evaluated as we move into the summer months.
“We will continue to liaise with the supplier as regards schedule changes that may affect supply logistics.”
Sound Service Station owner Jordan Thomason said Sunday papers have not been on sale at his shop since mid to late summer due to the unreliability of the supply.
“It’s disappointing, because we sell a lot of papers, and Sunday’s ones were no different,” he said.
Thomason said the alternative of trying to take in Sunday newspapers late at night was not worth it, so they cancelled their order.
The shop owner added that there are no issues with papers Monday to Saturday, which arrive on the first flight from Aberdeen and usually are at Sound by the back of nine.
For those who don’t mind on missing out on flicking through a newspaper physically, Shetland Library customers can access a range of digital newspapers and magazines free of charge online.
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