In the first half of 2024, the domestic air transport passengers suffered a sharp fall, which impacts on Domestic aircraft and provincial airports: They registered 643,000 fewer travellers in the first half of 2024, compared to the same period in 2023.
The report made by the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC) They reveal that after a positive first quarter (growth of 2% in January, 5.1% in February and 1.4% in March), there was a drop in passengers in April, May and June, subject to the increase in fares. From January to June of this year, 7,456,000 passengers traveled around the country, 7.9% less than the 8,099,000 passengers in the first half of 2023.
As reference, May saw a 22.9% year-on-year drop, while in June the loss was 21.7%, which represented a figure of more than 300,000 fewer passengers than in 2023.
Airlines: traffic in Latin America is growing, but Argentina is still lagging behind
The Latin American air transport market continues to recoverdespite the serious crisis in which it was plunged after the impact of the pandemic. Although the figures are not homogeneous, in most countries the main airlines exhibited a broad capacity for resilienceas in some cases where they had to go through bankruptcy proceedings to restructure their debts and continue operating.
The best thermometer to interpret the evolution of this regional market is offered by the Passenger Traffic Report prepared by the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (HIGH).
According to the latest edition of this report, in the first quarter of 2024, the cumulative passenger traffic transported by Latin American and Caribbean airlines increased by 9%incorporating 10 million more passengers than in the same period in 2023.
The markets of Colombia, Chile, Peru and Brazil were the main contributors to this net passenger growth in the first quarter, as together totaled 4.6 million travelers additional.
Specifically in March, 41.1 million passengers were transported in the region, representing an increase of 8% with an additional 3.05 million compared to March 2023.
Brazil, Colombia and Peru were key to this growth, contributing 1.5 million additional passengers, with Colombia being the main driver, contributing 26% of the total increase.
Venezuela and Panama also experienced significant increases in domestic traffic, with increases of 30% and 52%, respectively.
Argentina showed a moderate growth of 1% in its domestic market, while Chile showed an increase of 6%, with the Calama (CJC) – La Serena (LSC) route standing out with an increase of 57%.
In Mexico, domestic traffic decreased by 7%, totaling 4.9 million passengers, representing 351,900 fewer passengers than in 2023. This decrease was mainly due to the reduction in operational capacity, caused by engine inspections on some aircraft and the decrease in operations at Mexico City International Airport (AICM). Despite these challenges, the route between Santa Lucía (NLU) and Cancún registered a growth of 56%.
Source: Ambito
