Flower flights bringing joy across the world

Starting weeks before Valentine’s Day air cargo carriers play their part in answering that age-old question “What are you getting your loved one for Valentine’s Day?” The run-up to the Feb. 14 holiday can be hectic for the average person but is even more so for airlines shipping tonnes of flowers, candy and other mementos while still transporting life-saving vaccines and personal protective equipment. Featured below are some of the airlines and airports meeting the challenge of transporting fresh flowers from across the globe despite the ongoing challenges from COVID-19. Did you know that 91% of all flowers imported to the U.S. are primarily from South America, for a total of more than 236,000 tons (214,095 tonnes) values at nearly $1.2 billion annually? That fun fact comes from Miami International Airport (MIA) , which expects an average of 300,000 flower stems to land between Jan. 1 and Feb. 15. From there, the airport estimates a total of 1.4 billion flowers will make their way across the country for an increase of 17% over the same period in 2021. MIA’s blooming flower trade is a big reason why the airport set a record of 2.7 million tons (2.4 million tonnes) of total freight in 2021, for its second consecutive year of growth. On the carrier side, New York-based Atlas Air shipped about 5 million tonnes of flowers from Columbia and Ecuador to Miami International Airport (MIA) for this year’s Valentine’s Day season. Kenya-based Astral Aviation transported millions of flowers from Nairobi, Kenya, on six flights to Dubai International Airport (DXB) and King Khalid International Airport (RUH) in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, in time for the holiday. https://twitter.com/atlasairww/status/1491843964726435855?s=27 Avianca Cargo set a record this year transporting 16,000 tonnes of flowers on 300 flights out of Colombia and Ecuador. The Colombia-based company has been shipping flowers for 48 years to destinations like Miami (MIA) and Los Angeles (LAX). Avianca said it was able to reach this goal through a coordinated effort within the supply chain and by increasing the number of flights each week. Whatever your gift-giving choice, chances are you can find it onboard an Emirates SkyCargo plane. The Dubai-based airline transported more than just flowers leading up to Valentine’s Day 2022. In January, 3,000 tonnes of flowers were flown from Kenya, Ecuador, Colombia, Ethiopia and other countries. Most of the flowers ended up at the largest flower auction market in the Netherlands while others continued the journey to the rest of the world. Emirates SkyCargo also shipped 200 tonnes of perfumes from Europe, 1,200 tonnes of watches and 1,500 tonnes of electronics from Asia — the perfect gift for that gadget lover in your life. To meet demand on the busy trans-Atlantic trade lanes IAG Cargo added a new service between Sao Paulo International Airport (GRU) and Buenos Aires. IAG is adding between eight to 10 cargo flights per week between Madrid (MAD) and Buenos Aires. Flights between London (LHR) and Mexico City (MEX) increased to seven per week. There are now 14 flights per week between Madrid (MAD) and Bogota. The London-based cargo company now services 17 destinations in Latin America from Barcelona, London , and Madrid. During the first two weeks of February, Network Airline Management (NAM) , the freighter fleet management arm of Network Aviation Group, operated at a total of twelve 747F flights carrying more than 1200 tonnes of flowers from Nairobi, Kenya, to Europe to meet additional demand.

Flower flights bringing joy across the world

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