The OAG report from February 2010 indicates that Latin American air services continue to expand within the region, with 185,970 flights scheduled for February 2010. This reflects an increase of 12% (19,891 more flights).  Capacity also shows a positive growth of 15% with 2,563,551 seats on offer.

Operations to and from Central and South America have increased 6% in frequency and 5% in capacity year on year. Services between North America and Central/South America are also up compared to a year ago, with 6% more flights and 6% more capacity between the regions.

Analysis of major hub activity for January 2010 reveals impressive growth in South America.  Sao Paulo (GRU) and Bogota (BOG) show frequency increases of 24% and 17% respectively.  Capacity has also increased at both airports by 28% and 18%.

Furthermore, according to the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), passengers seeking flights from Brazil to other countries already have 933 direct flights per week out of 16 airports to choose from. In 2009, new regular operations were introduced including: Guarulhos-Tel-Aviv (Israel) by the airline El Al, Brasília-Atlanta (USA) by Delta Airlines and Galleon-Charlotte (USA) by U.S. Airways. A new Air China route from Guarulhos-Madrid-Beijing will open in March.

Recently Embraer released a very interesting document that attempts to highlight its vision of the new profile of their fleet in Latin America.

Embraer (short for Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica, S. A.) is a Brazilian aerospace conglomerate that produces commercial, military, and corporate aircraft, and provides related aerospace services. Embraer is one of the three main exporters from Brazil. This paper notes that the current jet fleet in service in the region grew by 22%, most is for new aircraft. However, the category of jets from 30 to 120 seats has reduced its share of over 50% to 35% since 2000. The average size of aircraft has grown steadily in Latin America, unlike what is happening, for example to the U.S. domestic fleet.

This situation has its downside since 60% of orders for aircraft purchases are from 121 to 210-seat jets. Regional Latin American carriers should attempt to keep a fleet balance to minimize major drivers of costs and have a flexible and efficient fleet in order to protect domestic markets and add new segments, says the report. The consequences of this trend are beginning to show, since many Latin American cities that lack sufficient and profitable demand for large aircraft have been left without air service.

Currently, 61% of flights that take off in Latin America do so with a suitable number of passengers to otherwise occupy a 70 to 110 seat jet.

The Embraer article can be read here

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