Carrier operates nine special flower charters in February to meet additional demand
Emirates SkyCargo recently operated daily scheduled freighter flights to Nairobi and four weekly freighters to Quito to uplift flowers that are then flown to destinations across its network.
However, in order to meet the additional demand for transporting flowers during this season, Emirates SkyCargo will be operating a total of nine freighter flights dedicated for flowers over and above scheduled operations.
With each of Emirates SkyCargo’s Boeing 777 freighter aircraft being capable of transporting up to 100 tonnes of cargo, this translates into the carrier flying close to 900 tonnes of roses over and above the around 4000 tonnes transported monthly.
Keeping flowers fresh
The journey of flower exports begins on a farm where they are harvested by hand. The freshly harvested flowers are then sorted, arranged in bouquets and hand packed into boxes, which are then loaded on the aircraft. In order to ensure maximum freshness and shelf life, the flowers are maintained between 2 and 5 degrees centigrade.
In 2018, Emirates SkyCargo transported over 50,000 tonnes of flowers across the world. A majority of the flowers transported, over 27,000 tonnes, originated in Kenya. This is estimated to be around 15% of the overall flower exports from the nation.
In January 2019, the carrier uplifted over 2,200 tonnes of flowers from Nairobi. During the same time, Emirates SkyCargo flew over 1,200 tonnes of flowers from Ecuador to Amsterdam.
Emirates SkyCargo also transports flowers in the belly hold of its passenger aircraft from other markets such as India, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia.
