Stansted Airport has played cupid for the nation's romantics as 200 tonnes of flowers arrived last week ahead of Valentine's Day.
Cargo flights have flown in tens of thousands of roses of every colour and variety from countries such as Kenya and Colombia, to the shores of Britain.
Graeme Ferguson, cargo director at Manchester Airport Group, which owns Stansted, said: "Most people think an airport is just for holidays or business, but the arrival of thousands of roses shows that air travel plays an important role in so many aspects of everyday life.
"The airport is a key port of entry for time sensitive goods such as fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers from the major exporting nations in South America and Africa on scheduled freighter services operated by carriers including Martinair, Cargolux, Panalpina and ANAAirline Management.
"The demand for many different goods and products in the winter months cannot always be met by UK producers alone so supply has to be supplemented by foreign imports. Stansted is the UK gateway for that traffic with the airport becoming especially busy around Valentine's Day with the increased demand for red roses in particular," said Graeme.
Around 230,000 tonnes of freight is shipped annually through Stansted on 11,000 cargo flights to and from 200 countries including textiles, fruit and vegetables, flowers, electronics, pharmaceuticals, mail, race-horses and Formula One equipment.
Leading carriers operating freight services at Stansted include Asiana, FedEx, Martinair, Cargolux, Panalpina, Qatar, Royal Mail, Silk Way,ANAAirline Management, Titan, TNT, UPS and West Atlantic.
