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Flowers outside Sandringham House Replenishment by plane
Photo: Joe Giddens / dpa
Turkish florists are trying to cope with the flood of orders from the United Kingdom after the death of Queen Elizabeth II with unusual measures: instead of trucks, the coveted flowers are transported to the island by cargo plane.
Orders for cut flowers have increased by 90 percent since the queen's death, Selcuk Celebi of the Antalya Commodity Exchange said on Thursday.
However, the Turkish florists could only meet about 40 percent of the demand.
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Photo: SEDAT SUNA/EPA
"It's the end of the season in the Mediterranean province of Antalya," Celebi explained.
“We are at a time when production is declining in the highlands of southern Isparta province.” The rapid increase in demand means florists have to charter planes to deliver flowers to the UK.
That takes about a day, while delivery by truck takes about a week, Celebi said.
Turkish Cargo, the subsidiary of Turkish Airlines, says it has started transporting more than 500,000 flowers weighing about 13 tons for the funeral from Antalya and Isparta in south-west Turkey to England.
"Turkish Cargo has delivered about four tons of flowers to London since the beginning of the week," it said.
On September 5th and 12th alone, flower exports from Turkey to England increased by 40 percent compared to the same period last year, according to official figures.
The Queen's state funeral is set to take place on September 19.
She died last Thursday at Balmoral Castle at the age of 96.
mike/Reuters
