Members of The Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) have carried more than 187 million passengers in the 2015 calendar year. Traffic saw a 5.8 percent increase compared to 2014, and capacity increased by 5.4 percent for the calendar year.
The airlines that are members of ALTA are some of the biggest players in Latin America – including the flag carriers of Argentina, Mexico and Colombia. Of the ten reporting members, many have either increased capacity on existing routes or have expanded their networks within the last 12 months.
Aerolineas Argentinas – the country’s national flag carrier, with hubs in Buenos Aires – saw an overall increase in seat capacity of more than 13 percent. Their domestic markets account for 85 percent of seat capacity, which has grown in the last 12 months despite the fact the airline has not added new routes. Aerolineas Argentina’s fastest growing market is Mexico, with an increase of 54 percent, and the newest addition to their network is a route to Salvador, Brazil.
AeroMexico, based in Mexico City and the national carrier of Mexico, have begun transitioning to Boeing 787s as they phase out the older 767 model within the last two years. The airline is due to receive their first of eleven 787-9s this year, with all eleven slated for delivery by 2020. AeroMexico plans to gradually remove their 777s from their fleet within the next 24 months. Grupo AeroMexico had a very successful end to 2015, with a 10.5 percent year on year increase for December. Compared to December 2014, international passengers increased by 17.2 percent, domestic passengers were up by 7.5 percent, and Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) increased 12.2 percent year on year.
Flag carrier of Panama, Copa Airlines, is the dominant player in the Panama market, controlling 81 percent of seats and 75 percent of flights. The airline operates a total of 69 airport pairs and only one domestic route. Copa remained profitable in 2015, despite a fall in their net income and margins. Capacity was reduced to a fraction of the growth that Copa had posted in the last few years, having endured yield and revenue weakness in the calendar year. Despite the pressures of 2015, Panama’s airports have grown by 8.1 percent within the last three years.
Recession in Brazil, with the economy contracting up to three percent in 2015, has not made things easy for Gol. In 2012, the airline began to reduce capacity due to the economy in Brazil slowing down. Although the airline’s total revenues fell by 10.5 percent in the second quarter of 2015, they saw increases in demand and capacity within the calendar year.
July was particularly strong for Gol, with domestic demand increasing by 10.7 percent, the international market capacity increasing by 8.3 percent, and a total of 3.7 million passengers transported for the month – 6.9 percent more than July 2014. Gol added a service to Aruba in late November 2015, and extended their codeshare with Air Canada in the same month. Gol remains the airline that transports the largest number of passengers in the Brazil market.
LATAM Airlines Group, a Latin American airlines holding company, incorporated under Chilean law, made plans to launch six new international routes over 2015 and 2016. These plans include operating four weekly flights between Washington DC and Lima, Peru – becoming the only airline to operate a non-stop route between the two cities – and operating a route from Sao Paulo to Johannesburg, subject to approval from authorities.
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