Dec 29. In September Latin America became the first region to surpass 2019 passenger levels, illustrating the scope of the travel recovery since several key markets joined the likes of Colombia and Mexico in removing Covid travel restrictions.
While the pace of this recovery slowed in October as passenger volumes were 8% below pre-pandemic highs, IATA still expects Latin America to be behind only North America in terms of passenger traffic recovery. It sees Latin American traffic in terms RPKs only 13% short of 2019 levels, closing to within 5% of those highs next year.
”Latin America has shown buoyancy over the year, largely owing to the fact that many countries began lifting their Covid-19 travel restrictions since mid-year,” it says.
An industry profit, for a region that was loss-making even before the crisis, remains elusive. IATA projects net losses of around $2 billion this year, falling to around $800 million next year.
Notably, the region’s biggest carriers entered the period following formal restructurings undertaken during the crisis, while Avianca and Gol are pushing consolidation moves in the region through their Abra group joint venture as they seek to build greater scale.
Source: Flight Global
