American Airlines Cargo team has moved nearly 5,500 tonnes of fresh asparagus around the world in the first six months of 2018. Growers in Mexico and Peru supply the majority of the early season asparagus for Europe and Asia. American then forwards the veggies on its widebody aircraft from a number of key US hubs.
“The majority of what we move is green asparagus, but we do move very small amounts of both the albino and purple varieties,” says American Airlines Cargo’s managing director, Sales – Western Division Joe Goode. “And because they are all fresh spears, they do require careful specialised handling.
“In addition to moving significant volumes of asparagus, we also move large volumes of lettuce, radicchio, tomatoes and mangoes into Asia over the same period of time.”
American Airlines Cargo operates a perishables cooler at LAX that processes delicate, temperature-sensitive goods, like fruit, vegetables and flowers. The airline also has similar facilities at Dallas-Fort Worth, Miami, London Heathrow, among other key perishable hubs.
