The members of the LATAM Group of Airlines transported 24,400 tons of flowers from South America to the USA and transcontinental destinations to meet consumer demand on Mother’s Day event. The volume flown is equivalent to approximately 560 million stems. To put that figure into perspective: Throughout the 21 days of the season, more than 300 stems per second departed South America bound for destination markets across three continents.
One notable trend in the past season was that, in addition to traditional markets such as the U.S. and Europe, demand from niche markets such as Oceania and even Chile has also increased significantly. It is an encouraging sign that demand for cut flowers from Colombia and Ecuador reaches new buyer groups and continues to grow.
The logistics of the entire operation was coordinated from three origin airports: Bogotá, Quito, and Medellín – encompassing more than 430 dedicated flights for the season. To sustain this standard, ground crew staffing more than doubled compared to a regular week, reinforcing ramp, warehouse, and supervisory teams across all three South American hubs.
“The prior alignment between commercial and operational teams means that certainty is not ours alone: it belongs to the producer who knows their product will arrive on time and in optimal condition, and to the importer who can make commercial commitments backed by real capacity,” explained Claudio Torres Faini, International Commercial Director for South America, LATAM Cargo. As in previous years, the entire operation required long-term planning to ensure that the transport was coordinated and carried out on schedule. Close collaboration with growers and exporters was critical. Having volume data available several days in advance made it possible to size the required resources at every point in the supply chain – from cargo receipt at the warehouse to the cut-off of each flight frequency – ensuring a best-in-class service standard.
