On this occasion, we present the Traffic Report for May 2020, which, as we announced, keeps the same trend recorded in April, showing a 95.8% drop in passenger traffic compared to May 2019.
This percentage shows that throughout the past May, fewer passengers traveled in the region in comparison with any given day in May 2019. About 1.5 million passengers were carried from, to and within Latin America and the Caribbean, representing a decrease of 33.5 million passengers over the previous year. As in April, during May only the Mexican, Chilean, and Brazilian markets were operational and these recorded decreases above 90% in passenger traffic.
In the accumulated for January-May 2020, we already reached a 42.3% decrease, which accounts for losses of 76 million passengers and over 15 billion dollars in revenue for the airlines operating in the region.
The panorama for June will be similar, despite the fact that some markets such as Ecuador restarted operations with a reduced capacity. Only in July, we will begin to experience the results of a greater opening, mainly in the Caribbean.
We recognize the willingness of the governments in the region to maintain a dialogue with the industry, however the air transport sector urgently needs to restart operations in accordance with the health and safety recommendations of the CART group, organized by the ICAO. Following this guide will allow us to resume its operations in a harmonized, timely and safe manner, providing confidence to all stakeholders and users, and safeguarding millions of jobs which directly and indirectly depend on aviation.
Air transport is the safest mean of transport in terms of accidents and biosafety. The aircraft configuration and the protocols recommended by the industry mean that flying, in addition to meeting a public need in an efficient manner, allows for safe mobilization. In ALTA we will continue to approach the authorities, understanding the realities of each market and advocating for a prompt restart of operations in order to generate again economic and social benefits to the population of the region.
Thanks for reading,
José Ricardo Botelho
Panama, July 9, 2020 – The Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) announced today that airlines operating the Latin America and Caribbean market carried 1.5 million passengers in May, down 95.8% – or -33,540,984 fewer passengers – from the previous year. Traffic (RPK) decreased 97.2% and capacity (ASK) decreased 94.2%, bringing the load factor to 40%, 42.9 percentage points lower than in 2019. (see table 1).
Traffic to/from Latin America & Caribbean
149,859 passengers travelled to and from Latin America and the Caribbean in May, down 98.7% from the previous year (see table 2). Traffic (RPK) decreased 98.4% and capacity (ASK) decreased 95.6%, bringing the load factor to 30.1%.
