Despite the pandemic, air transport of flowers was the second best in eight years

About 18,800 tons were exported in Valentine's Day, the Mariscal Sucre airport in Tababela reported.

The export of Ecuadorian flowers through air transportHe had a good performance in the Valentine's season, which was from January 18 to February 9. At the Mariscal Sucre in Tababela airportThe activity has represented the second best Valentine's season since it opened eight years ago, in 2013.

The quality of the flower, added to the efficient airport services and the business plans of the airlines that have included an operation combined with Ecuador and Colombia, are factors that have generated this good result.

According to Luis Galarraga, Quiport Communication Manager(Airport Administrator), this year in Valentine's Day they were transported18,806 Metric Tons of Flowers on 387 flights from various airlinessuch as Atlas Air, UPS, KLM, Avianca, Latam, Qatar, Emirates, South American airlines. DHL, Mas Air, Skylease Cargo, Air Canada, Cargolux, Tampa, Turkish Air have also participated.

According to Galarraga, the 2021 figures with respect to 2020 registered a minimum variation of -1.9 %. "If you consider the crisis scenario, the performance has been very good. This is due to the high quality of the Ecuadorian flower in international markets and the operational and logistics facilities offered by the airport," he explained.

Meanwhile, airlines also tell a positive experience this year. Between January 18 and February 10, 2021, Avianca Cargo mobilized 14,200 tons of flowers for the celebration of Valentine's Day from Bogotá, Medellín and Quito. The figure is 6 % higher than the volume of flowers transported for this party last year. Only from Quito mobilized 2,995 tons of flowers mainly transporting roses and gypso.

The general director of Avianca Post, Kurt Schosinsky, explained that in this “seasonal challenger” the cold room was renewed in Miami, adapting it with the latest technology for the conservation of perishable products, and thus provide support to our customers.

For its part,Grupo LATAM Post reported that during Valentine's 2021 season, the amount of flowers transported from Bogotá, Medellín and Quito, Medellín and Quito, increased by 7 %,compared to 2020, totaling more than 13,200 tons.

According to the company, the favorable figure is explained because the LATAM group has protected the continuity of its operation in Colombia and Ecuador, despite the challenge imposed by the pandemic. Latam Post took around 225 times from those cities to transport the flower to the US.

In Quito, said Latam,The capacity to support the transport of their flowers to Miami was also added, which allowed to increase inMore than 7 % tons transported per week.Thus there was also an increase in capacity towards Amsterdam (Netherlands), second destination of Ecuadorian flowers.

From the Simón Bolívar airport in Guayaquil, flowers were also exported during the Valentine's season, but in an amount of 66 tons.