During 2024, the behavior of the airlines that operate in Argentina moved to the rhythm of macroeconomic conditionsabove all the evolution of the exchange rate.
The dollar is still or declining with respect to local inflation, which remains in the order of 3% monthly, encouraged travel abroad to the detriment of domestic flights.
According to figures recently published by the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC), with data for December and the end of 2024, the number of passengers transported last year stagnated compared to 2023.
Last year, 29,336,000 passengers were transported, adding domestic and international markets. This figure, against the 29,121,000 travelers in 2023, It represented an increase of just 0.7% year-on-year.
An additional piece of information in the comparison of the 2024 totals against previous years is noted in the ANAC statistics that they are below 2019. In the year prior to the pandemic 30,748,000 travelers were mobilized in cabotage (16,243,000) and international travelers (14,505,000). It means that 2024 was 4.8% below 2019.
The 2024 global slight growth percentage supports further reading: The cabotage segment closed the year with a drop of 8.3% compared to the previous year. Instead, International passengers increased 14%.
Put in absolute numbers, this means that last year 15,907,000 people flew through the interior of Argentina. On the other hand, throughout 2023 there had been 17,344,000 travelers.
The same thing happens when translating the increase in international passengers. In 2024, 13,429,000 people flew, which is compared to the 11,777 who traveled in 2023.
This reflects that there were 1,652,000 more people who used international air services. Instead, domestically there were 1,437,000 less.
December record: an isolated event or the beginning of local air recovery?
Taken only the month of December of 2024, compared to December of previous years, ANAC data reflects that there was a historical record with 2,850,000 passengers, which surpassed the previous December 2018 peak of 2,587,000 travelers.
Of course, this record was fundamentally based on the 20.1% increase in the number of travelers abroad. The domestic segment contributed only 0.9% to that record.
The number of passengers in cabotage started 2024 with moderate increases in the first quarter, but From April it began to collapse compared to 2023. May was the worst month with a year-on-year drop of 22.8%.
Relief only came in December with an improvement of 0.9%. But this last piece of information did not compensate for the sharp declines accumulated in previous monthsso that the year closed with the aforementioned drop of 8.3% year-on-year.
The number of international passengers, on the other hand, recorded year-on-year increases in the twelve months of last year. The peak was 20.1% and occurred on two occasions: in July and December.
Air travel abroad was motivated not only by tourist reasons but also by lightning trips to neighboring countries to make purchases at very convenient prices due to the exchange rate on both sides of the borders.
The boom began with two or three day trips to Chile, but then Brazil was also added, which due to the devaluation of the real became an accessible destination for this summer. Even Uruguay, a destination traditionally expensive For Argentines, it became tempting for purchases due to the Argentine exchange rate delay.
Travel to the United States and Europe also resurfaced, among other international destinations encouraged by the cheap dollar.
The airlines Gol (Brazil) and Latam (Chile-Brazil) were the ones that increased the most the number of passengers transported to or from Argentina in December 2024 compared to the same month in 2023. They are followed by Iberia (Spain), Sky (Chile) and Copa (Panama). Aerolíneas Argentinas and Boliviana de Aviación were the only ones that lost passengers in this comparison. ANAC statistics only compare December and do not consolidate the annual data.
Source: Ambito
