Tons of flowers arrive each year in Miami in time for Valentine’s Day
Pedro Portal
Miami Herald File
The growing cargo operation at Miami International Airport transporting flowers, fruit and seafood is about to get a technology upgrade.
The airport will start using an AI-based platform to help make its massive cargo system run smoother.
MIA is teaming up with Indian technology firm Kale Logistics Solutions to develop what they call the Airport Cargo Community System. That’s a shared online portal for freight forwarders, cargo handlers, truckers, carriers, ground handlers and others involved in handling freight.
Until now, these groups worked in a fragmented way and often had to exchange information manually.
Kale Logistics Solutions, founded in 2009 in Thane, India, near Mumbai, has already installed an older version of the platform at about 40 airports worldwide, Amar More, co-founder and CEO, said in an interview with the Miami Herald this week.
MIA will be the first to use an AI-based platform that the company is developing, More said. He called it “the world’s first AI-based airport cargo system.”
MIA and Kale will start rolling out the technology in January, the CEO said, and the system will fully launch in August or September.
How big is MIA’s cargo operation?
In 2025, Miami International was the busiest airport for freight in the United States, handling a record 3.4 million tons. Globally, it trailed Hong Kong and Shanghai.
MIA’s total cargo volume requires a daily average of 190 cargo-only flights and more than 1,600 truck trips. Over 90% of all flower imports by air to the U.S. come in via MIA, mostly from Colombia and Ecuador. LATAM and Avianca have major freight operations at Miami’s airport.
Are those for me? Not yet, as they have to clear customs in Miami. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
Cargo trucks currently arrive at MIA with limited information about their departure times and types of cargo they’re supposed to haul, which can increase congestion, carbon emissions and inefficiencies. The new platform will improve planning and scheduling, More said.
Trucks will know what products are coming in each plane and can book a shorter time slot to be at the airport instead of waiting all morning. And there will be more visibility into the supply chain: what’s arriving from where, when, and for how long.
MIA will also use the network to develop direct international channels with Colombia and Ecuador, the largest suppliers of flowers.
While each individual cargo firm has automated internal systems, they’ve had to exchange data with partners manually, said More, the Kale CEO.
“This is about making MIA more future-ready,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a statement this week.
That includes “simplifying and expediting the movement of goods through our global gateway, supporting the businesses and jobs that depend on international trade, and ensuring that our airport remains an industry leader not just in cargo volume, but also in efficiency and sustainability,” she said.
The county, MIA and Kale revealed the partnership on Oct. 27 at the International Air Cargo Association’s Air Cargo Forum at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Levine Cava approved the contract with Kale in August. It’s initially for one year, until March 31, 2028. But both parties have the option to extend it for another five years.
The Miami-Dade Aviation Department is projected to receive $1.3 million in revenue in the initial phase. That would rise to $5 million should the contract be extended.
Miami Herald
Vinod Sreeharsha covers tourism trends in South Florida for the Miami Herald.