Miami Airport Sees 90,000 Tons of Flowers Enter the U.S in January and February

We transport flowers all year round, but specifically during the Valentine’s season, we more than double our capacity because there’s more than double the demand.

Senior Vice President of Avianca Cargo, Diogo Elias, on importing flowers for Valentine’s Day. Avianca Cargo, based in Colombia, is Miami’s largest flower importer.

Why It Matters: Flowers make up one of the Miami airports largest imports — 940 million cut flower stems are being processed ahead of February 14, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

What To Know:

• Roses, carnations, hydrangeas, chrysanthemums and other florals are flown in primarily from Colombia and Ecuador.
• Last year, flowers imported through the Miami airport made up nearly 400,000 tons (which is about half the weight of the Golden Gate Bridge), valued at over $1.6 billion, according to Miami-Dade Chief Operations Officer Jimmy Morales. The months of January and February alone see 90,000 tons of flowers worth $450 million enter the U.S. (That’s roughly the weight of the Washington Monument!)

Did You Know? About 90% of imported flowers come through Miami, with the other 10% coming through Los Angeles.

Read More: 940 Million Flowers Traveling Through Miami (AP)

Image Credit: Adobe Stock / Adragan