Airports support peak flower season with special projects and infrastructure

#1: Quito (UIO) plans to meet growing flower demand with infrastructure expansion    

Located in Ecuador’s capitol city of Quito, Quito Airport (UIO) serves as the conduit for the massive amounts of flowers – especially roses – grown in its surrounding area. To meet burgeoning demand for flowers and perishables, UIO is increasing its available cargo capacity and infrastructure. 

To strengthen its operations, UIO built a sixth aircraft stand and expanded its palletizing area by 1,000 square meters in 2018. This year, the airport plans to carry out several expansion projects, including the extension of its 28 land-side cargo docks, as well as reconfiguring its air-side taxiway. Further details for these projects are yet to be determined but are expected to be announced over the coming months. 

Given the massive amount of flowers it handles – 90% of exports leaving the airport are flowers – UIO prides itself on its expertise on the handling requirements of these sensitive and perishable products. UIO also prioritizes working efficiently under pressure during extreme peaks in flower exports, notably during Valentine’s Day, Russian Women’s Day and American Mother’s Day seasons.  

“During the 10-day peak period for Valentine’s day in 2018, during those 10 days, we handled 644 flights and over 1,000 semi-trailer and other delivery trucks,” Alisson Larrea, manager, corporate affairs and marketing at UIO, told Cargo Airport News. 

UIO will be an airport to watch, as it was recently voted one of the top airports in our sister site’s, Air Cargo World’s, ACE Awards 2019, and welcomed increased temporary operations from carriers during peak Valentine’s Day season earlier this year.