Newspaper delivery changes 22/2/14
Until last April newspapers arrived by morning freight plane from Aberdeen to Lewis but rising costs caused by the absence of cargo for the return flight off the island resulted in a distribution switch to afternoon ferry.
Until the council cuts, the daily Uist consignments were transferred at Stornoway onto the passenger flight to Benbecula, arriving there at 9.30am each day. There are no Mondays and Fridays plane to Uist any longer after the Comhairle axed the subsidy for these days.
Wholesale distribution for Lewis is now via the lunchtime Stornoway ferry which arrives
at 1.10pm - often later or sometimes not at all in bad weather. Then the bundles
have to sorted for despatch to island retailers.
Papers for the Uists now arrive by Lochmaddy, off the MV Hebrides. With a late afternoon arrival every second day, it means they do not arrive in Southend or Eriskay until almost teatime.
However, publishers will not go back to the charter plane flight as the ferry is vastly cheaper while island circulation has dropped by around 18%. Local shops reported a 15% fall in takings to a council survey last year.
The ferry route saves the publishers 75% of the previous cost of the plane and it works out even cheaper if the Loganair price rise had been applied.
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