Difficult end of year for Latin American carriers

Latin American airlines saw cargo demand slip by 425m freight tonne km in 2015 as weakening economic conditions continued to affect airline performance.
The end-of-year figures from the Latin American & Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) show that cargo demand for its 11 member airlines ended the year 8.2% down on 2014 levels at 4.7bn freight tonne km.
The largest decline came on services heading to and from the region, which were down 8.8%, while intra-Latin American service slipped by 7%.
December was a particularly bad month for the airlines, with demand slipping by 17.6%.
The declines come as major economies in the region continue to struggle. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expecting Brazilian GDP to decline by 3% in 2015 and Argentinian GDP to grow by just 0.4%.
The situation doesn’t appear to be too optimistic for the year ahead either, with the IMF projecting a 0.7% decline in Argentina’s GDP and 1% fall from Brazil.
IATA figures show a slightly lower decline for the year at 6%.
IATA said: “Latin American carriers recorded the biggest fall among regions, with FTKs contracting 6.0% in 2015 compared to 2014.
“With economic and political conditions in key economy Brazil worsening, regional trade activity has been very volatile over recent months.
“That said, air freight demand on carriers in this region has shown little correlation with trade to/from the region.
“Rather, it has mirrored the weakening consumer sentiment in the key economies.”
ALTA reporting airlines: Aerolíneas Argentinas (includes Austral), Aeromar, AeroMéxico, AeroMéxico Connect, Avianca, Copa Airlines, Copa Airlines Colombia, GOL, Insel Air, LATAM Airlines Group, and Volaris.