NAIROBI: February 12, 2019. To ensure Australians didn’t miss out on Valentine’s Day, Panalpina has delivered 1.6 million long-stem roses from Kenya’s horticultural industry to Sydney via Emirates Sky Cargo’s B777 ‘Love Plane’ freighter.

Cut flowers are Kenya’s second largest export commodity after tea and Panalpina says Australia is one of the biggest Asia Pacific importers of the East African nation's famed roses.

The 'Love Plane' marks the first direct full freighter flight from Nairobi to Sydney with a B777F and Panalpina claims to be the first and so far only freight forwarder offering the service.

The delivery follows the expansion of Panalpina’s cold storage facility at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in November 2018 that will ensure the company can move a projected 80,000 tons of flowers, fruit and vegetables in and out of Kenya by 2020.

“Some say love makes the world go round. Panalpina makes things go round the world, and we’re happy to make Valentine’s Day much more special for our friends down under,” commented Quint Wilken, Panalpina’s global head of Air Freight Perishables.