Source: ALTA
- Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela, the top recovering markets in June
Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) is once again leading the world ranking in air passenger traffic recovery by carrying, during June, 29.2 million passengers, a figure 1.8% above its pre-pandemic levels. This growth vs. 2019 was driven by the domestic market, while the international market kept 2% below its 2019 levels, as highlighted by the Air Traffic Report submitted each month by the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA).
Argentina was the most outstanding country in the recovery of domestic air traffic with a 16% growth compared to June 2019. This milestone is related to the increase in traffic To/From Bariloche, where during June there were six direct domestic routes and 982 flights operated.
Specifically, on the Aeroparque-Bariloche route, flights increased 43%, while on the Ezeiza-Bariloche route they had an 89% increase. Bariloche’s high air connectivity reaffirms its position as one of the most important tourist destinations in Argentina where, according to data from the municipality, tourism generates just over 40% of total employment.
Argentina thus outperformed Mexico (+15%) and Colombia (+4%). Similarly, the domestic performance of Venezuela and Chile was very positive, making advances of 11% and 8%, respectively, above 2019.
Brazil has accumulated two months in a row of growth, reaching 4% in June above 2019. The Congonhas (SP)-Santos Dumont (RJ) route was the most important domestic route in the region with 3,158 flights operated between both airports in June, representing a 24% increase over 2019.
Thus, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela are the seven top domestic recovery countries in the region during June; jointly they represent 94% of total domestic traffic in Latin America and Caribbean.
Colombia leads in international passenger traffic
Colombia leads the recovery in international passenger traffic. It stood out showing a 40% growth (483,000 additional international passengers) vs. its 2019 levels, which were driven by an increase in the flight numbers on the Cali-Miami (+50%), Bogota-Quito (+49%), Bogota-Santo Domingo (+108%) and Bogota-Madrid (+48%) routes. In total, To/From Colombia, 10,800 international flights were operated during June 2023, 13% over June 2019.
Meanwhile, Mexico had a 12% growth in international passengers, driven mainly by an increase in the frequency of flights to and from Colombia (+15%), Spain (+36%) and Costa Rica (+36%). The most important international route in Mexico; Cancun-Dallas Fort Worth, grew by 49% in the total flights offered.
The Dominican Republic grew by 17%, driven by three international markets that doubled their flight numbers compared to 2019; Colombia (+49%), Venezuela (80%) and Mexico (+39%). Among the largest international markets that still lagged behind June 2019 are Brazil, Argentina and Chile with 83%, 77% and 84% from 2019 levels, respectively.
Mexico leads in 2Q23 vs. 2Q19
In 2Q23, 87.2 million passengers were carried in the region, 1% above the same quarter of 2019. Mexico kept its leadership as the highest traffic country in the region during 2Q23 with a total of 29.1 million passengers carried and domestic and international levels well above 2019.
Meanwhile, the air market in Colombia carried a total of 11.4 million passengers in 2Q23, exceeding 2019 passengers by 13%. As mentioned above, international growth in Colombia stood out at 34% higher than its levels in the same quarter of 2019. Countries such as the Dominican Republic (+16%) and Costa Rica (+11%) stood out in international traffic growth.
Brazil remained 3% below its pre-pandemic levels with 26.2 million passengers carried in the second quarter of 2023. Brazil faces different realities in its domestic and international market, while domestic traffic has exceeded its Q2 2019 levels by 0.5%, internationally it remains 16% below 2019 levels.
Argentina, Peru and Cuba (the most lagging country, both in domestic and international traffic) still remain below their 2019 levels. However, in Argentina (+11%) domestic traffic is fully recovered compared to 2019. Venezuela, on the other hand, has exceeded its total traffic levels by 12% thanks to its domestic traffic growing by 13%; for the international market, it still lags behind 2019, although a notable improvement is expected in the coming months because of the reopening of flights with Colombia.
(*) Global overview
The ranking measured in passengers by origin/destination region places the Middle East region second, reaching 99% of its 2019 levels, after showing a strong growth in May. North America made a slight advance to 96%, Africa reached 95.3% moving back to fourth place. Southeast Asia made an advance to 91.2% of its 2019 levels and Europe achieved 89.4%. In general, all regions throughout the world showed a slowdown, while LAC kept at similar levels compared to May, being the world leader in air traffic recovery.