Just to make it clear, because there is so much misinformation flying about and certain politicians trying to grab headlines and certain people happy to give it to them, there is no chance of Loganair taking newspapers to the islands on passenger flights. It is a ridiculous notion.

Because of other hats I wear, I know how much space is taken up by passenger luggage – I see it most days of the week – so I wish the people who claim it can be done would pipe down.  You need a cargo plane – a freighter. There are other options currently being discussed which we will hear about in due course, but not involving Loganair.

Just for the record, Phil Preston, the big boss at Loganair, told me today: “The aircraft used to deliver the newspapers to Stornoway from Aberdeen was a freighter and unable to carry passengers.”

In other words, you can’t mix the two. And it’s now too expensive. Those days are gone. 

As for Eastern Airways, you can forget those rumours too. Yes, they fly from Aberdeen to Stornoway but it’s not going to happen. Their plane arrives too late and they too just don’t have any room on it.

They told me: “Due to the committed flying programme of the aircraft that is allocated to operate the Stornoway to Aberdeen route, there are no current plans to change the schedule and timings.  We don’t currently have any dedicated freighter aircraft in our fleet, and our passenger aircraft do not have the necessary capacity to carry freight.”