Swissport Kenya has seen a busier peak season for floral exports this year, driven by increased air cargo capacity, including charters, and predicts more than 10,000 tonnes of fresh flowers will pass through its Nairobi facility.
Swissport is managing an additional 30 charter flights in Nairobi and is seeing growing interest from operators to expand services during this period, according to Racheal Ndegwa, CEO of Swissport Kenya.
“The combination of increased freighter capacity and the efficiency of our flower corridor product will ensure that we can meet demand during the peak season,” she said.
However, other stakeholders are signalling a potential shortage of cargo space, particularly during peaks like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. Local reports indicate that exporters have been facing growing logistical challenges since 2021, particularly in the horticultural sector.
“We had freighter capacity issues in the last quarter of 2024,” said Jack Bwana, commercial manager for cargo at Kenya Airports Authority. He largely blames the Middle East crisis, which disrupted supply chains along sea routes, driving up demand for airfreight. As a result of the more lucrative rates offered to airlines, some flight frequencies to and from Kenya were reduced.
“We have recently seen the capacity crisis easing off with airlines coming back into the fold,” Mr Bwana noted, and he expects to see a normalised market situation during the current quarter.
He sees no shortage of cold storage facilities either, particularly at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in Nairobi, which has around 1.2m tonnes throughput capacity, of which 35% is allocated to cold storage.
Maintaining cold storage facilities is capital-intensive, and in many parts of Africa, power outages are common, so perhaps, greater investment in more reliable energy sources could improve logistics to enhance the efficiency and reliability of cold chain systems in the country and elsewhere, he believes.
“Most of our stakeholders are transitioning from hydro and fossil fuel-based energy to renewable sources, such as solar energy,” explained Mr Bwana.” He also mentioned other fuel alternatives, like bio gas from fresh produce waste, adding: “There is a hybrid attitude to get the best power supply matrices by our stakeholders.”
Swissport Kenya’s air cargo terminal at NBO spans over 10,000 sq metres and features a temperature-controlled perishables build-up area connected to four cold rooms.
“Handling fresh flowers requires strict adherence to cold-chain management to preserve their freshness,” commented Ms Ndegwa.
Flowers are stored and handled in temperature-controlled environments, with precise calibration of those build-up areas and cold rooms. On arrival at the facility, they are temperature-screened using specialised equipment like a vacuum cooler to maintain optimal conditions for freshness.
Ms Ndegwa added: “Our goal is to ensure that every single flower, from the moment it leaves the farm to its arrival at the final destination, remains as fresh as when it was harvested.”
In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on transporting cut flowers to European markets via sea freight. While that provides an alternative route, she believes air freight remains the most efficient option.
She thinks sea freight will need significant technological advancements in cold chain management and handling processes to match the quality and efficiency of air freight for time-sensitive goods like flowers.
Mr Bwana acknowledged that exporters were aware of the need to diversify both their product mix and their transport strategy by maintaining a multimodal approach. However, he believes air freight’s value proposition of speed, reliability, predictability, and visibility will continue to make it the preferred option for perishables and high-value exports.
“With e-commerce emerging strongly and positively shifting demand curves, we are not worried about any competition from the blue economy,” he added.
