About Northern Drift

Northern Drift Air Freight was founded in the late 1970s in the Scottish Highlands – originally as a small passenger carrier operated by Henry Rusk. After a tragic incident over the North Atlantic, the company shifted focus from passenger service to dedicated freight operations. Leadership later passed to his daughter Moira Rusk, who continues to run the airline quietly and efficiently – with a reputation balanced somewhere between professionalism and myth.

Operating from Torran Hill Airfield near Inverness, Northern Drift serves remote regions across the Highlands and Islands: medical transports, critical spare parts, research supply runs. The aircraft are rugged, the crews resilient, the weather rarely kind. Flights go out when others stand down.

The fleet today includes a De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter and an aging Convair CV-580 – both known for reliability under impossible conditions. Northern Drift isn’t about comfort or glamour; it’s about getting there, no matter what.

Stories of lost aircraft, strange transmissions or sealed cargo manifests are neither confirmed nor denied. Officially, Northern Drift simply flies what needs to be flown – and has done so for nearly fifty years.