What’s Miami’s story beyond South Beach and Everglades National Park?

Miami is known for its sun-soaked South Beach, the colourful streets and Cuban cafés of Little Havana, and its proximity to the natural wonders of Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park. But beyond the beaches, art deco architecture and tourist trails lies another side to the city — one shaped by the movement of goods across borders and the supply chains connecting the Americas to the rest of the world.

At the centre of this less visible story is Miami International Airport (MIA). Flowers from Colombia and Ecuador, salmon from Chile, pharmaceuticals, electronic devices and millions of e-commerce parcels pass through its cargo network, linking producers and businesses to markets across Latin America, the Caribbean and beyond.

In 2025, MIA handled 3.4 million tonnes of cargo, marking its sixth consecutive year of record growth. Ralph Cutie, Director and CEO of Miami International Airport, describes an operation where established trade flows meet new demand — and where the rapid rise of e-commerce is reshaping the airport’s role in regional logistics.

“With MIA’s unmatched route network and cargo lift across the region, MIA has quietly become the de facto e-commerce gateway to South America and the Caribbean,” Cutie said.

A gateway built around perishables
For all the attention surrounding e-commerce, some of Miami’s most important cargo flows are rooted in a much older and more tangible trade: food and flowers.

Cut flowers were MIA’s largest import commodity group by volume in 2025, accounting for 409,845 tonnes, primarily from Colombia and Ecuador. Fresh and frozen seafood ranked second, at 244,199 tonnes, led by salmon from Chile. Fresh produce contributed another 90,944 tonnes.

These are goods for which the journey does not end when an aircraft lands. Temperature control, timely handling and onward distribution are essential to preserving quality and getting products to market. The scale of these flows helps explain why cold-chain infrastructure remains an important part of the airport’s future plans.

The export side tells a different story. Industrial machinery led MIA’s origin-and-destination exports in 2025, at 78,948 tonnes, followed by electronic devices at 49,602 tonnes. Pharmaceuticals accounted for 14,962 tonnes, while plastics contributed 14,881 tonnes. Aircraft, spacecraft and parts made up another 13,301 tonnes, reflecting the contribution of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations and nearby aircraft and spacecraft manufacturing facilities in Florida.

“With MIA’s unmatched route network and cargo lift across the region, MIA has quietly become the de facto e-commerce gateway to South America and the Caribbean.”
Ralph Cutie, Miami International Airport

These figures cover origin-and-destination trade rather than every shipment passing through MIA. More than half of the airport’s international freight in 2025 was in transit, and commodity-specific data for those shipments is not available. The reported figures therefore offer a view of the airport’s trade profile, rather than a complete breakdown of everything moving through its network.

The e-commerce effect
The most striking change in MIA’s cargo landscape may be taking place inside parcels that are individually small but collectively enormous in number.

According to the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) estimates cited by the airport, individual parcel shipments valued at less than $800 — the vast majority of which are e-commerce shipments — grew from approximately 1.5 million in 2021 to 140 million in 2025.

That increase reflects the expansion of online shopping across Latin America, with businesses in the US, Asia and the region itself seeking to meet consumer demand. Brazil and Colombia are particularly strong markets for e-commerce flows through Miami, including goods originating in both the US and Asia.

The growth brings a different set of operational demands. An airport handling fresh seafood or pharmaceutical shipments must maintain the right conditions for sensitive products. An airport processing vast numbers of individual parcels must also coordinate screening, examination and clearance without creating bottlenecks across its cargo facilities.

MIA is supporting CBP’s plans for a Centralized Examination Station (CES) just outside the airport perimeter. Projected to open in early 2027, the facility is intended to support high-volume security screening, ease congestion on airport premises and improve the clearance and processing of e-commerce shipments.

The scale of parcel growth also illustrates why MIA’s role extends beyond the aircraft and warehouses themselves. Customs processes, handling capacity and the movement of goods beyond the airport are increasingly important to the performance of the wider cargo gateway.

Pharmaceuticals find a place in the mix
Another part of MIA’s cargo story has developed over the past decade: pharmaceuticals.

The airport has held IATA Pharma Hub status since 2015. Cargo airlines, ground handlers and logistics providers operating at MIA have also invested in specialised handling capabilities and CEIV Pharma certification, supporting the requirements of temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical shipments.

In 2025, pharmaceutical trade through MIA was valued at $8.96 bn and totalled 16,205 tonnes, according to Cutie. Pharmaceuticals have risen from the airport’s sixth-largest export commodity group by volume in 2019 to third place in 2025. The origin-and-destination export figure for pharmaceuticals was 14,962 tonnes that year.

The segment adds another dimension to the airport’s role in regional and international supply chains. Pharmaceutical logistics depends on more than transport capacity: specialised handling, temperature management and coordination between logistics providers are also critical. MIA’s investments in its pharmaceutical capabilities have helped establish the category as a more prominent part of its cargo business.

Perishables, meanwhile, remain a foundation of the airport’s volumes, while e-commerce is expanding rapidly. As Cutie put it, “no air cargo vertical shows faster growth globally than e-commerce”.

Together, these segments present MIA with a varied operating challenge — and make the availability of suitable facilities as important as the headline cargo total.

Connecting air, sea and road
Miami’s cargo ecosystem is not confined to the airport. PortMiami and the region’s road network form part of the wider logistics landscape, although the airport and seaport serve different requirements.

MIA is geared towards high-value, time-sensitive and temperature-sensitive air freight. PortMiami handles slower-moving bulk cargo and is connected to heavy rail and trucking networks. Their roles are distinct, but some cargo categories, particularly perishables, offer potential for closer coordination between the gateways.

One initiative at MIA is a planned Phytosanitary and Cold Chain Processing facility. The project is moving through planning and permitting and is expected to provide cold storage, phytosanitary treatment and inspection areas for perishable cargo. An opening is estimated within the next couple of years, although a specific date has not been confirmed.

The facility could create opportunities for sea-air-road movements involving cargo handled through both Miami gateways. However, the airport has not yet provided projections for additional volumes or changes in commodity mix arising from the project.

The potential use of Reveam’s Electronic Cold-Pasteurization (ECP) technology is also under consideration. MIA has not yet quantified how the technology might affect cargo volumes, product shelf life, routing or access to new markets.

For now, the plans point to the importance of preserving the quality of perishable goods while improving the options available to shippers moving products through South Florida.

Electronics connect Miami to Asia
The other side of MIA’s trade profile reaches well beyond the Americas. Electronic devices are a significant import category, covering smartphones and processor chips as well as electric motors and other semiconductor-related products, including USBs.

MIA imported more than $6 bn worth of electronics in 2025. Vietnam, China, Malaysia, India, Costa Rica and Taiwan were among the leading origins, illustrating the airport’s links to manufacturing and technology supply chains across Asia and the Americas.

In early 2026, MIA received its first scheduled service of any type from mainland China, when Air China Cargo launched three-times-weekly flights between Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Miami. The service added a direct cargo connection between the two markets.

According to Cutie, electronics imports from China in the first half of 2026 were on track with 2025 performance. E-commerce shipments are difficult to account for separately, but they are also contributing to air cargo demand between China and Miami.

The connection matters in a market where electronics and online retail increasingly overlap. The same broad supply chains that bring devices into the US also support consumer demand across Latin America and the Caribbean, with Miami serving as an important point in the movement of goods through the region.

Preparing for the next phase
Sustaining this mix of cargo will require more space and infrastructure. MIA is finalising a phased Cargo Development Plan designed to meet projected demand beyond 2044. It envisages increasing on-airport warehouse space from 2.8 million sq ft to 4 million sq ft by 2044, while raising annual cargo capacity to 5.3 million tonnes.

The plan includes additional aircraft stands, warehouses and taxiways, with construction to be phased to accommodate the airport’s ongoing operations. A proposed $400 million Vertically Integrated Cargo Community (VICC) facility is no longer part of the plans after its developers suspended the project.

The longer-term programme reflects the breadth of MIA’s cargo business. Flower imports and seafood shipments require reliable cold-chain handling. Pharmaceuticals depend on specialised facilities and processes. Electronics link the airport to Asian manufacturing centres, while the rise of e-commerce is driving demand for parcel screening and processing at a scale that would have been difficult to imagine just a few years ago.

Miami’s public image may be defined by its beaches, neighbourhoods and national parks. Its cargo story is less visible, but it is deeply connected to the city’s place in the Americas: a network of trade routes, specialised logistics operations and infrastructure that moves goods from producers to businesses and consumers.

For MIA, the task ahead is not simply to handle more tonnes. It is to accommodate a changing mix of freight — from flowers that must arrive fresh to medicines that require careful handling and parcels that must pass through the system efficiently — while building the capacity to serve demand over the coming decades.