How Fresh Flowers Are Packed for Air Freight

The box is engineering, not just cardboard

Air-freight flower cartons come in standardised lengths so they stack cleanly on aircraft pallets. Ventilation holes are positioned so cold air passes through the whole stack rather than around it, and the stack is built so those holes stay aligned.

Immobilising the stems

Inside the box, bunches are laid head-to-tail and locked in place with cross-boards, straps or clamps. If the bunches can move, the heads bruise. This is the single most common cause of damaged arrivals in flower transport.

Wet pack or dry pack

Some products travel dry and are rehydrated on arrival; others travel with a water source at the stem ends. The choice depends on the flower, the flight time and the temperature in the chain. Roses and chrysanthemum commonly travel dry; hydrangea and some soft-stem summer flowers prefer hydration.

• Heads sleeved or netted to protect petals
• Cross-boarding so bunches cannot shift in flight
• Cold chain maintained from grower to aircraft
• Labels with content, consignee and handling instructions

What to do the moment the box arrives

Open boxes immediately, cut 2–3 cm off every stem with a clean sharp knife, and place the flowers in clean water with flower food in a cool room. Flowers that sit in a closed box in a warm room for even a few hours lose days of vase life.

Web-Flora supplies florists, wedding and event professionals, hotels and premium retailers in Saudi Arabia with fresh Dutch flowers. Minimum order is 2 boxes (around €600), shipments leave the Netherlands weekly, and Ahmed Frindi is your direct personal contact.

Frequently asked questions

How many stems fit in a flower box?

It depends on product and stem length — a box may hold anywhere from around 100 to several hundred stems.

Do the flowers travel refrigerated?

Flowers are kept cold from harvest through packing and handling; the aircraft hold is temperature controlled.