Nothing says “I love you” like a dozen roses on Valentine’s Day. Great Britain’s Stansted Airport, located 30 miles northeast of central London, received 200 tonnes of flowers from Kenya and Colombia, including tens of thousands of roses of every color and variety.
Graeme Ferguson, cargo director for Manchester Airport Group, said, “the airport is a key port of entry for time sensitive goods such as fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers from the major exporting nations in South America and Africa on scheduled freighter services operated by carriers.”
Stansted is a hub for leading freight carriers including Asiana, FedEx, Martinair, Cargolux, Panalpina, Qatar, Royal Mail, Silk Way, ANA Airline Management, Titan, TNT, UPS and West Atlantic.
British media reports that approximately 230,000 tonnes of freight is shipped each year through Stansted on 11,000 cargo flights to and from 200 countries. Stansted airport is owned by Manchester Airport Groups, which owns and operates three other U.K. airports. In 2013, it was the fourth busiest airport in the country, behind Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester.