Emirates airline is taking off with Onam celebrations, the harvest festival of India’s Kerala state, by deploying its Emirates SkyCargo’s Boeing 777 freighter ‘Rosie’ and arranging the traditional floral arrangement called ‘pookalam’ on the tarmac at Dubai International Airport. ‘Rosie’ is Emirates SkyCargo’s rose-liveried Boeing 777 freighter aircraft. With #FromEmiratesSkyCargoWithLove, an Emirates statement read: “We are proud to serve Kerala since 2002, with daily flights to Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. Emirates SkyCargo carries fruits, vegetables and flowers from Kerala to the Middle East every year for Onam celebrations in the region.” Celebrated with gusto by the Malayalee expat population around the Gulf region, Onam makes for a special start to the latter half of the year, usually arriving at the end of the high summer season. Its emphasis on food, marked by the special ‘sadhya’ meal with up to 28 dishes served on a plantain leaf, traditional dances and pookalam-designing makes for an all-around festival atmosphere.
A special Onam pookalam was also put together by staff at Emirates SkyCargo to underline how the air cargo carrier helps bring a taste of home to expatriates in the region. The prominent rose decal on A6-EFL aircraft was originally unveiled in Dubai on the occasion of Valentine’s Day in February this year, to highlight the role of Emirates SkyCargo in the global floriculture industry. Since then, the aircraft has flown to 50 destinations across six continents around the world and has made special visits, including in Barcelona on the Catalan ‘Day of the Rose’ and most recently in Shanghai during the Qixi festival or Chinese Valentine’s Day. The Dubai-Kerala cargo route is a robust one. Every year, Emirates SkyCargo transports significant volumes of perishables including bananas and banana leaves from Kerala to the Middle East during the run up to Onam. The fruits and vegetables are used to prepare the festive sadhya banquet. The flowers flown in are used for the competitive art of intricate pookalam arrangements, an integral part of the Onam festivities. In the first three weeks of August 2017, Emirates SkyCargo transported close to 2,200 tonnes of fruits and vegetables from India to the rest of the world, out of which close to 1,700 tonnes were air freighted to several destinations in the Middle East. Making of 'Rosie' - angel@khaleejtimes.com
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