By John Oyuke

Flower farmers and exporters will get a major boost with the introduction of daily Emirates Airline flights between Nairobi and Amsterdam from May 1.

The Dubai-based United Arab Emirates [UAE] national airline, plans to use the extra belly capacity generated by the new passenger flights to transport an additional 400 tonnes of cargo per month to the Netherlands.

Emirates Regional Manager for East Africa, Essa Ahmad said the flights will boost local flower farmers, as cut flowers would form the bulk of the consignments.

Emirates Skycargo – a member of the group - transports 1,000 tonnes of flowers monthly.

"Emirates has long supported the flower industry by working with flower exporters to enable them find new export markets as well as continue to develop new ones," he said while announcing the new Nairobi-Amsterdam route in Nairobi.

Timely delivery

In addition to cargo, he said, the new flights will also enhance the timely delivery of fresh flowers everyday to Amsterdam, the country’s key market for cut flowers.

This, he said, will also increase exporters’ sales as well as revenue, providing a boost to the flower industry.

"The Netherlands is a crucial market for Kenyan flower exporters and the fact that consignments are re-exported to countries as far and wide as Japan and the United States gives flower farmers market diversity out of their European stronghold," Ahmad asserted.

He said in addition to bringing shipments of flowers and other commodities into Amsterdam, Emirates help export flowers to other markets via its hub in Dubai.

"Figures show that exports from the Netherlands cover more than 60 per cent of the world’s fresh-cut plants, flowers and bulbs. It is big business," Ahmad said.

Kenya is currently the largest supplier of cut flowers to the European Union, representing 35 per cent of all imports.

Globally, Kenya has a 25 per cent market share, having overtaken Colombia and Israel, who have a 17 per cent and 16 per cent global market share respectively.

Two thirds of these blooms go to the Netherlands, which dominates the trade in cut flowers worldwide through its auction halls, where Dutch wholesalers buy flowers for re-export to markets as far away as the United States and Japan.