LATAM Cargo sees Mothers’ Day flower volumes take-off

The LATAM Group has reported a 20% increase in flower volumes transported in advance of Mothers’ Day celebrations.

The group said that it transported 24,000 tons of flowers – or 552m stems – from Colombia and Equador in the 21 days ahead of this Sunday’s Mothers’ Day in the US and many other countries around the world.

The airline group said this is a 20% year-on-year increase and a 93% rise compared with the volume of flowers transported during a typical three-week period.

LATAM said that it had expanded its transportation capacity to meet the rising demand, providing more than 400 frequencies to transport flowers to destinations in South America, Europe, Australia and the US.

Miami was the main point of arrival with 370 landings during the season.

From Colombia, more than 13,000 tons of flowers were transported on 222 flights departing from Bogotá and Medellín, including a variety of species such as roses, carnations, and chrysanthemums.

“It is worth noting that in 2023, the LATAM group was responsible for transporting 40% of all flowers exported from Colombia to North America for the year and following the success seen this season, it is expected that the results for 2024 will continue in the same vein,” the airline group said.

From Ecuador, the airline nearly doubled the amount of flowers transported compared with the same date the previous year. A total of 189 departures from Quito transported close to 11,000 tons of flowers, mostly Ecuadorian roses.

“With over 300,000 jobs generated by floriculture in Colombia and Ecuador, we assume the enormous responsibility of transporting their flowers to global destinations in optimal conditions. Our goal is for every person who receives one of these flowers to feel its freshness as if it were just cut on the farm where it was grown,” said Claudio Torres Faini, commercial director of South America at LATAM Cargo Chile.

Last week, WorldACD reported that air cargo volumes out of Central and South America (CSA) have taken off in the last few weeks of April ahead of Mothers’ Day celebrations in North America.

Analysis from WorldACD shows that air cargo volumes from CSA increased by 17% week on week in week 17, following on from a rise of 14% in week 16.

The data firm’s figures show that the largest increase was in demand to the US and Canada, with volumes up 48% on a two-week basis.

“Although around 90 countries or territories around the world celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May, North America is by far the most important destination market for flowers shipped by air from CSA,” WorldACD said.

“The spike in CSA to North America tonnages was also accompanied by a 12% rise in rates (two weeks on two weeks) – the only significant rates rise among any of the main intercontinental lanes measured by WorldACD’s data. And that drove up total air export rates from CSA by 6%.”

Central and South American air cargo volumes boom in April