Alex Salmond's coffin flown back to Scotland and public pays respects as cortege drives from airport

Members of his family were on the tarmac at Aberdeen Airport along with long-standing friend and colleague Kenny MacAskill to meet the coffin, draped with the saltire, as it was flown in on a private jet paid for by billionaire businessman and philanthropist Sir Tom Hunter.

And as it was driven in a hearse the 40 miles to Fraserburgh, people in towns and villages along the route lined the streets to pay their respects. The cortege was given motorcycle escort by about 40 members of Yes Bikers, and supporters drove in front and behind in a car cavalcade.

Alex Salmond's coffin is taken off the plane which brought it back to Scotland from North Macedonia. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire. | PA

A line of pipers played the procession into Fraserburgh, where the coffin was taken to a funeral parlour.

Mr Salmond, 69, who was First Minister from 2007 until 2014, had been speaking at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy Forum in the city f Ohrid, North Macedonia, but collapsed during lunch on Saturday October 12 and could not be resuscitated.

His death shocked the political world and prompted tributes from across the political spectrum.

Members of the Salmond family were there to welcome the body home, along with acting Alba leader Kenny MacAskill. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire | PA

There were calls for the body to be flown home by the RAF or for the Scottish Government to arrange the repatriation, but in the end Sir Tom Hunter offered to charter a plane at a cost said to be around £24,000.

He said he and the former First Minister did not agree on everything, but he insisted: “Alex Salmond devoted his life to Scotland and the Scottish people and as such he, and importantly his family, deserved the dignity and privacy of a private return to the home of his birth.”

There was due ceremony for the departure of the body from North Macedonia. Mr Salmond's coffin was carried to the plane by six members of the nation's military along a red carpet that was flanked by eight other soldiers standing at attention to the sound of a trumpet.

The soldiers, flight and ground crew observed a moment's silence before Mr Salmond's body was loaded onto the flight.

Yes Bikers served as outriders for the cortege on its journey from Aberdeen Airport to Fraserburgh. Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire | PA

In Aberdeen, a piper played Freedom Come All Ye as the coffin was taken off the plane.

Kenny MacAskill, former SNP MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Justice Secretary in Mr Salmond’s government and now acting leader of Alba, the new pro-independence party Mr Salmond launched after his fall-out with Nicola Sturgeon, said he had been moved to tears by the "spontaneous" show of support for the former First Minister by ordinary people.

He said the family had been "delighted" to accept the Yes Bikers’ offer to act as outriders. He added: "A car cavalcade seemed to follow on behind and it was a very fitting tribute. What most heartened myself and the family were the turnout of ordinary citizens at towns and villages all the way from the airport to Fraserburgh, standing at their homes and getting out their vehicles to pay tribute.”

Mr Salmond’s family plan a private funeral, which is expected to be followed by a public memorial service at a later date.