According to IATA, airlines will continue to make losses in Latin America

Passenger and cargo traffic will continue in red in the Latin American market and in 2023, with losses of 600 million dollars, and in 2024, when they will grow to 400 million, according to forecasts published by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Losses will however continue to decrease compared to until the worst moments of the pandemic (were in the region of $7 billion in 2021 and $3.9 billion in 2022), according to an annual report presented today at IATA headquarters in Geneva Airport.

“While some markets in the region are showing strength, such as Mexico, others are facing economic and social instability that is affecting airline numbers,” the world’s main airline organization said.

According to the report, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africa will be, as in 2022, the only regions in losses in 2023, and the latter two will be the only ones still in the red in 2024.

In contrast, IATA expects the North American air transport market to generate $14.3 billion in profits in 2023 (and $14.4 billion in 2024), while in Europe it would be $7.7 billion this year and $7. 9 billion dollars.

Another region with advantages would be Middle Eastwith profits of $2.6 billion in 2023 and $3.1 billion the following year, always according to IATA’s predictions.

Profits are back

Airlines will generate a total net profit of $23.3 billion in 2023, the first since the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020, and this will increase to $25.7 billion in 2024, according to a forecast published by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The air transport sector, one of the hardest hit during pandemic Due to the restrictions on movement ordered almost all over the world, it lost 137.7 billion dollars in 2020, 41 billion in 2021 and another 3.8 billion in 2022.

Revenue this year will total 896 billion dollars, which is 21.7% more than the previous year. the number for the first time higher than that of 2019 (838,000 million), according to statistics published by the world’s main airline association at its annual press conference, held at the Geneva airport. In 2024, revenue will grow by an additional 7.6% to $964 billion.

In 2023, $642 billion of those revenues will come from passenger transportation and $134.7 billion from freight transportation, while in 2024 the figures will be $717 billion and $111.4 billion, respectively.

Spending will be $855 billion this year, an increase of 18.1% compared to 2022, and will rise to $914 billion in 2024, up 6.9% annually.

“Given the enormous losses of recent years, the net profit of 25.7 billion expected in 2024 is a reward for aviation’s resilience,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh.

“People like to travel and This helped the airlines to come back to the levels of connectivity that existed before the pandemic, at an extraordinary speed, but which cost the sector four years of growth,” he said.

IATA predicts that around 4.7 billion people will travel by air in 2024, an all-time high that would exceed the last year before the pandemic, 2019 (4.5 billion).

Walsh emphasized that current growth margins (2.7% in 2024) are still below investor expectations.

“On average, airlines make $5.45 per passenger, which is enough to buy a coffee at Starbucks at London Airport, but not enough to build a resilient future for an industry on which 3.5 percent of the world’s GDP depends,” he said. is.

The sector expects a decrease in inflationary tensions benefits to its finances, as well as low global unemployment rates and strong demand, although it points out that there are risks that could affect its 2024 numbers, such as a possible economic slowdown in China, with high levels of youth unemployment and pressures on its powerful sector real estate.

Regarding current conflicts, such as the one in Ukraine or the war between Israel and Hamas, IATA states that their adverse effects on the sector are limited thanks to the modification of routes that pass through the affected airspace.

On the other hand, they caused an increase in fuel prices, which increased the costs of airlines.

“Peace that seems difficult in these conflicts could bring benefits to the industrybut on the other hand, escalation could produce a radically different global scenario to which aviation would not be immune,” the annual report said.