Major airlines are seeing the transport of flowers pick up in 2023 during the usual February peak after recent years of poor sales due to the pandemic.
American Airlines Cargo reported that this year out of Europe, the air freight carrier would fly 50% more flowers than in 2022 for the Valentine’s Day peak.
More than 70% of the fresh flowers that American carries are from Ecuador and Colombia are roses, and for Valentine's Day, that number increases to 90%.
“This Valentine’s Day season, we moved more than 460 tonnes in total, with 2020 volumes (pre-pandemic) around 500 tonnes,” Roger Samways, vice president, commercial, at American Airlines Cargo, told Asia Cargo News.
Samways noted that throughout the year, American Airlines Cargo’s top exports are out of Europe and Latin America, with the majority of its flowers arriving in its hubs at the Miami International Airport (MIA), John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), supported by Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD).
“American’s vast global network enables us to help move flowers wherever they are needed. MIA is the main hub for flower transport. Most flowers we carry travel through MIA at some point in their journey,” Samways said.
“From there, the flowers continue their journey either within the U.S. or beyond, including destinations in Asia,” he added.
Samways told Asia Cargo News that aside from Valentine’s Day in February, American Airlines Cargo also expect spike in volumes for flowers around holidays like Easter, Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“Flowers make up around 11% of our perishable volumes on a yearly basis,” the American Airlines Cargo executive added, noting that other perishables regularly carried by the airline include fresh salmon from Europe and Chile, asparagus from California, papayas from Brazil and peppers from the Netherlands.
Looking at American Airlines Cargo’s overall outlook for the year, Samways noted changes in the general business environment past the pandemic.
“The air cargo environment is certainly changing as we move into 2023, and this is reflected in changes in the supply and demand balance. However, we see great opportunities at American Airlines Cargo as we continue to align our network capacity to heavily support long-haul international routes, supported by continued strong passenger demand,” he told Asia Cargo News.
“This growth in international capacity, particularly on trans-Atlantic and into Latin America, is going to help us to create more solutions for our customers.”
Separately, Qatar Airways Cargo also noted increased demand for the transport of flowers in February, prompting the airline to ramp-up its capacity in the past weeks leading to Valentine's Day.
The cargo carrier noted that over 4,000 tonnes of flowers were transported all around the world over a two-week period leading to February 14.
“To satisfy the significant demand during this peak time, Qatar Airways Cargo is intensifying the frequency of its flights to increase capacity,” Qatar Airways Cargo said.
“This translates into 10 additional Boeing 777 freighter flights from Nairobi to Liège and 10 additional flights from Quito to Amsterdam and Miami, on top of the regular cargo and passenger flights.”
The carrier said flowers are mainly exported from Latin America (Ecuador and Colombia) and Africa (Uganda and Kenya) and then transported to five major international destinations: the United States, Amsterdam (for distribution across Europe), Australia, the Middle East and Japan.
“Qatar Airways Cargo has indeed been involved in the transportation of flowers from Nairobi for over 10 years and will be the largest cargo operator there by Valentine's Day 2023,” it added.
Miami International Airport — America's flower imports gateway — also projected a busy peak for flower imports leading to Valentine's Day this year.
The airport said the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspects more than a billion cut flowers from January 1 to February 15 before they enter the United States, and 89% of those imported flowers come through MIA.
“In 2022, CBP inspected 1.23 billion cut flowers during the peak season, and this year was projected to be just as busy,” the gateway said.
MIA annually receives over 327,881 tonnes of flower imports valued at US$1.5 billion — handling more flower imports than any other airport in the United States.
The gateway noted that in 2023, consumers are expected to spend US$25.9 billion on Valentine’s Day, up from US$23.9 billion in 2022 and one of the highest spending years on record.
By Charlee C. Delavin
Asia Cargo News | Hong Kong
