Germans Airlifting Food to Yorkshire Due to Channel Blockage

By Staff, Agencies

In a scenario that has been called “a mirror image of the Berlin airlift” during the Cold War, Germany has flown 80 tons of fresh fruit and vegetables from Frankfurt to Yorkshire.

A Lufthansa Boeing 777 cargo plane from the airline’s hub touched down on Wednesday afternoon at Doncaster-Sheffield airport.

On board was lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli and citrus fruit destined for Aldi, the Co-op, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.

An airline spokesperson said the aim was “to help restock sparse UK supermarket shelves just in time for Christmas.”

A series of travel bans have brought much terrestrial commerce to and from the UK to a halt, with thousands of trucks stuck in Kent waiting to cross the Channel.

While UK-bound travel is permitted, many continental drivers are unwilling to risk joining the gridlock of lorries hoping to reach Calais and Dunkirk.

Bill Swan, a business architect who lives close to the unfolding chaos in Kent, described the exercise as “a mirror image of the Berlin airlift” – a Cold War episode in the late 1940s.

During a 15-month blockade by the Soviet Union of land routes between the allied sectors of Berlin and western Germany, the RAF and US Air Force flew millions of tons of supplies – mainly coal – to the city.

“At least the 777 has a larger payload than a Dakota,” said Mr. Swan.

Lufthansa says the flight of fresh produce to Yorkshire could be the first of several over the next few days.

Tesco and Sainsbury's have said that while stocks of most items not under threat, fresh produce with a short shelf life may soon be in short supply if the flow of freight from France does not pick up to normal levels. 

Tesco has begun rationing soap, hand wash, eggs, rice and toilet roll to guard against panic buying. 

Lufthansa’s airlift took place amid worsening gridlock in Kent after the port of Dover and the Eurotunnel route from Folkestone reopened following a 48-hour closure of the French border to lorries from the UK.

Almost 4,000 drivers have been stuck at the abandoned Marston Airfield near Ramsgate which has been repurposed as an overflow car park.

Protesting lorry drivers closed a road and clashed with police in Dover on Wednesday after tempers flared over the delays in crossing the Channel just two days before Christmas.