Latin America Aviation industry expectations

The 2014 Soccer World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro focused the world’s attention on Brazil and its neighboring countries. Soccer fever may have died down, but expected growth in the regional aviation industry is keeping Latin America’s airlines and tourism industries excited and optimistic. In fact, the region is set to become an important player in the airline industry in the years to come. Several factors have influenced this boom over the past twenty years. I will only comment two of them in this article.

First, Latin America’s largest airlines and the region’s main hubs (Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Lima, Bogotá and Mexico City, among others), are in a prime position to successfully face their European and North American competitors by increasing the number of long-haul flights serving their own domestic traffic. Second, the region is comprised of a population of more than 600 million people and a growing middle class. According to the World Tourism Organization, this robust middle-class growth has led to an 8% increase in leisure travel (almost two times the world’s growth rate). Moreover, air traffic projections for the next 20 years suggest an overall growth rate of 5.6% throughout the region. Finally, the amazing progress of Latin America’s airlines shows that the region is not only a sporting power, but is also poised to compete in world’s air industry.

Max Brog
CEO, South American Jets