From farm to freighter: Transporting flowers by air

It will be love at first flight this Valentine’s Day for many couples whose romantic evenings will involve flower bouquets imported via air cargo. Beginning at the Flores de Bojaca farm on the outskirts of Bogota, Colombia, and ending at Avianca Cargo ’s facility at Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport (BOG), Air Cargo Next last week witnessed the intricate picking, packaging and processing procedures that enable colorful bouquets to appear in stores in time for Valentine’s Day. [caption id="attachment_57140273" align="alignnone" width="1024"] (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] Cultivating beauty Flores de Bojaca is just one of dozens of flower farms around Bogota that are members of Asocolflores , the Colombian association for flower exporters. As the second-largest flower exporter in the world behind the Netherlands, Colombia produces about 60 species of flowers and offers more than 1,600 varieties. Flores de Bojaca grows its flowers in a greenhouse environment, where 50% of its water comes from rain reclamation, farm General Manager Gabriel Rodrigo Correa said. About 97% of this farm’s output is exported from Colombia via airfreight. [caption id="attachment_57140274" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Flores de Bojaca’s crop grows in greenhouse environments created with plastic tarps. (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_57140275" align="alignnone" width="768"] (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] Pick of the litter Each flower is handpicked and, at the end of each row, placed into a blue bin that records the variety, date and picker. [caption id="attachment_57140276" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Roses are gathered on a tarp after cutting and before being placed in bins. (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_57140277" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Flores de Bojaca General Manager Gabriel Rodrigo Correa explains the farm’s picking system. (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] A time to sort, a time to reap From there, the bins are hauled to an air-conditioned facility with three rooms at varying temperatures. A worker inspects each flower, measuring bulb size and stem length against a chart at each workstation, an employee told Air Cargo Next . Flowers that don’t make the cut are used for compost instead of bouquets. [caption id="attachment_57140278" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A worker measures roses against a chart at her workstation. (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] Most flowers from Flores de Bojaca are sold in bouquets. Workers feed single flowers into a machine that builds bouquets, processing 8,000 stems per hour. [caption id="attachment_57140279" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Workers spread flowers on the conveyor belt heading to the bouquet machine. (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_57140280" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Bouquets come out of the machine. (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] The final step at the farm is to pack the flowers in cardboard boxes for transport to the airport. Asocolflores President Augusto Solano predicted that the organization would use about 12,300 vehicles to transport flowers to the airport for this Valentine’s Day season. [caption id="attachment_57140281" align="alignnone" width="1024"] (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] Flores de Bojaca tests how its flowers will react to transport by packing them and simulating the entire transportation process, Correa said. This ensures that the flowers will arrive undamaged and helps pinpoint how long they will stay fresh. To the airport The flowers are transported to BOG’s cargo handling facilities, in this case, Avianca Cargo’s facilities. Avianca uses an in-house truck management system that times truck deliveries based on flight times for that shipment, Senior Vice President Diogo Elias told Air Cargo Next . Avianca implemented an in-house, paperless, electronic shift system this season. Drivers take photos of their IDs, upload them to the system and receive information on their delivery slots. The new system has reduced truck waiting times by 20% to 30%, according to Avianca Cargo. [caption id="attachment_57140282" align="alignnone" width="1024"] (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] For the Valentine’s Day season, Avianca Cargo extended its receiving hours to 24/7 service in Bogota, increased personnel by 30% and implemented a virtual scheduling system that reduced cargo acceptance times by 56% compared to 2023, according to the carrier. Quality and health Before the flowers can be exported, they must pass rigorous testing to rule out insect infestation and disease. Two percent of each shipment is brought to Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (ICA) offices, located adjacent to the carrier’s handling facilities, where an expert examines each bouquet in the sample under a magnifying glass for signs of disease on the leaves and bulbs. The expert then turns the bouquet upside down and hits it firmly with their hand, causing any loose foliage and debris to fall onto a white counter; if live insects fall out of the bouquet, it will not pass inspection. The inspector looks for different issues depending on the destination country, based on each country’s laws and regulations, an ICA representative told Air Cargo Next . For instance, Australia has more stringent regulations and allows fewer species of flora, the representative said. [caption id="attachment_57140283" align="alignnone" width="1024"] (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_57140284" align="alignnone" width="1024"] ICA inspectors look for signs of plague on 2% of every shipment. (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] Due to their vigorous shaking, tested flowers are not sold; they are either returned to the farm or thrown away. If any issues are found, the other 98% of the shipment is returned to the farm. If the farm can resolve the issue, the flowers can go through inspection again and, if they pass, fly out. Security checks Once the flowers pass ICA testing, they enter Avianca’s refrigerated handling facility, which is kept between 2 C and 8 C. IBS Software ’s iCargo platform digitally manages the cargo facility, which enables Avianca to see all shipments on one screen, build templates for recurring shipments and manage shipper accounts. The cargo first passes through large X-ray machines, ensuring that flowers and only flowers are in the shipment. Avianca’s most popular flower exports this season, according to the carrier, were: Roses and carnations from Bogota; Pompons, hydrangeas and chrysanthemums from Medellin; and Roses, carnations and gypsophila from Quito. [caption id="attachment_57140285" align="alignnone" width="1024"] (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] Next, drug-detection canines handled by the Colombian National Police inspect the cargo. The dogs are primarily searching for cocaine, according to Cmdr. Rodrigo Moreno . [caption id="attachment_57140286" align="alignnone" width="1024"] (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_57140287" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A member of the Colombian National Police and his drug-detection partner search for cocaine. (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] Forming pallets for each freighter After clearing security, the boxes of flowers are palletized and secured in place by ropes, allowing for unique pallet shapes. This enables the carrier to optimize the freighter’s space. [caption id="attachment_57140288" align="alignnone" width="768"] The pallet’s shape is curved, allowing it to fit snugly against the freighter’s side. (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_57140289" align="alignnone" width="1024"] (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] The final step is loading the pallets onto the freighter. [caption id="attachment_57140290" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Ground handling equipment and a freighter await the flowers outside the cargo handling facility’s back doors. (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] To the skies Avianca Cargo transported about 16,300 tonnes of flowers from Colombia and Ecuador to North America from Jan. 16 through Feb. 8, according to the carrier. This amounted to nearly 300 cargo flights. “For Valentine’s, for example, we have 2.5 to 2.7 times the volume,” Elias told Air Cargo Next . “We don’t have more space with the same plane, so ... we rent planes from other ... airlines to fly us and to protect not only the flower market, but also the [other] markets that we also go to. ... We have to still serve those markets, but also increase the volume here.” [caption id="attachment_57140271" align="alignnone" width="1024"] An Avianca Cargo plane is decorated with flowers to denote its cargo. (Courtesy/Avianca Cargo)[/caption] Avianca Cargo’s North American flower shipments land at Miami International Airport (MIA), the eighth busiest cargo airport in the world, according to Air Cargo Next ’s top 50 cargo airports list. The carrier prepared for this flower season at MIA by expanding and modernizing its Jetfloor, a thermally insulated floor for cold chain shipments, increasing capacity by 83%, according to Avianca Cargo. Avianca set a company record this season in flower processing and delivery times to its customers, reducing them by 57% compared with 2023, and increased its perishable cargo depalletization capacity by 40%, according to the carrier. [caption id="attachment_57140272" align="alignnone" width="1024"] (Courtesy/Avianca Cargo)[/caption]

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