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By Angela U Burns
With advances in technology exposing more persons to the finer things of life now available globally, especially in the United States, local business Aeropost BVI quickly became a much sought after service.
Aeropost BVI (also referred to as Tortola Express) was established about 30 years ago by the late John Rathbun, an expatriate living in the British Virgin Islands. It started out as a cargo company with an office based at the airport bringing in cargo upon request from customers.
His son, Colin Rathbun, later took over the business and is now the CEO.
In keeping up with international commercial and technological advances, Colin has skillfully steered Tortola Express into the 21st century. As technology became more prevalent and people here started shopping online, the business expanded to a full-fledged maritime and air service.
Tortola Express rebranded in 2012 and joined the Aeropost Network, where one can buy just about everything on the Internet, thereby providing a wider range of products to discerning and savvy consumers.
The Aeropost Network is a Latin American/Caribbean brand with head offices in Miami, Florida, USA and about 30 other gateways combined across the different countries.
Doing business with Tortola Express/Aeropost in the BVI just cannot get any simpler and more convenient.
Human Resources Guardian/General Team Leader Nicole Martin-Hart says all one needs to do is register for an account, which is entirely free. Membership gives you a unique EIS#, which you will include in your shipping address.
In order to receive your packages, however, payment, which includes customs duty, must be made in advance. Rates vary per package, depending on size and weight.
Nicole further explains that one can choose how they wish to receive their items, via sea or air. It all depends on how soon you want to claim your order. Naturally, items brought in via air arrive quicker as there are flights Tuesdays to Saturdays every week. Heavier items are generally shipped via maritime and this service is once a week.
Once the items arrive in the BVI, they can be collected at the Tortola Express/Aeropost office in Port Purcell, as they would have already been paid for and cleared through BVI Customs. Items for customers on Anegada and Virgin Gorda are sent over via ferry for collection from agents Lorraine Wheatley on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and Working For You Mondays to Fridays, respectively. 
Another great feature offered is free delivery to anywhere on Tortola. “Anywhere,” she emphasized.
While Tortola Express caters mainly to online shoppers, its service is not limited to that.
The Human Resources Guardian/General Team Leader said, “if you have people overseas who want to send you packages, they can take or send these packages to our Miami location for forwarding to you.”
She says many persons have taken advantage of the service they provide, and she credits the staff for their professionalism and desire to ensure that every customer gets the service they desire.
“The team at Aeropost BVI or Tortola Express includes Customer Service or Face Team members and Operations Champions. We focus on developing and maintaining a particular culture, because we feel once we have a great culture, we can extend that to our customers in the service we provide,” Martin-Hart said. “We work like a family. In that way, if there’s a challenge with a customer, we take it personal and put ourselves in their position and that’s how we try to resolve that problem.”
Aeropost BVI has certainly established itself as the premier courier service in the Territory of the Virgin Islands and its success is measured by the increasing number of clients who take advantage of the professional service provided.
For further information, please visit www.aeropost.com and set your location to BVI, or call telephone 394-0707 or email help@tortolaexpress.com.
The office is open Mondays to Saturdays 10am-6pm.
