LATAM Cargo has announced that it saw 21% growth during the recent Mother’s Day season between April 17 and May 7.

The Carrier transported around 20,000 tonnes of flowers from the key global export markets of Ecuador and Colombia during the period, one of the most important annually for the air cargo industry.

The cargo division operated more than 115 weekly departures to north America, up 120% on usual volumes, increasing flight frequencies by 23% year-on-year compared to 2022.

This allowed it to supply the necessary capacity to provide North America and Europe with flowers such as roses, carnations and chrysanthemums.

Claudio Torres, LATAM Cargo international commercial director for South America, said: “Every year we have the challenge to continue improving and significantly increase our flight frequencies in order to meet our customer’s needs during this date.

“In March we had the arrival of a new cargo aircraft as part of our growth plan, which allowed us to offer more capacity during this mother’s season, and thus surpass the one million boxes of flowers transported.

“We will continue working to bring flowers closer to their final destination and continue contributing to the development of the flower industry.”

Colombia exported more than 12,000 tonnes of flowers from Bogotá and Medellín, a 14% increase over the previous year’s season.

The number of flights from Ecuador increased by 32% compared to the same period in 2022, allowing the transportation of more than 7,800 tonnes of flowers to Miami, Los Angeles and Amsterdam among other key destinations.