Infrastructure can't cope with pace of pan-American air trade growth
Airport cargo infrastructure, as well as established ways of handling logistics, are being challenged by growing traffic.
Airfreight capacity between Latin America and Canada is on the rise, courtesy of Air Canada (AC).
Last month, the airline resumed service to Santiago and Lima, serving the Chilean capital with four weekly nonstop flights each from Montreal and Toronto with B787-9 aircraft - the only carrier with direct flights on these routes.
AC's return to the Peruvian market, twice weekly out of Toronto and Montreal with B787-9s, ended a three-year hiatus. The airline also deployed the aircraft type on its route to Bogota, marking an increase in capacity from the A330 previously used.
Elsewhere in the region, AC firmed up its presence in Guatemala. Nonstop flights with A330s between Montreal and Guatemala City, launched in October 2025 on a seasonal basis, have been extended to year-round operation.
Indeed, Latin America is seeing a steady influx of international carriers, partly drawn by open skies policies in Argentina and Ecuador.
According to one report, Ethiopian Airlines is considering cargo flights to Buenos Aires, utilising traffic rights that include cabotage. Emirates, which has established itself as a major presence in the region, stepped up its Buenos Aires freighter operation to seven a week this year. It registered 18% growth in exports from the region for the January-September period.
In the first half of this year, cargo volumes out of Latin America grew 3.6%, according to IATA. And statistics from the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) show the momentum continued through July, led by Brazil and Colombia with annual growth of 9.8% and 8.4% respectively.
The pace increased in August, with tonnages up 11.8% out of Brazil and Colombia. In percentage terms, Argentina was the leader in August, showing 17% growth in volume.
While cause for celebration, these numbers are also producing some headaches. ALTA CEO Peter Cerda, warned that this growth was on a collision course with capacity constraints. He stated that 54% of the airports in the region were already showing signs of saturation.
Future growth will depend to a large extent on the ability of governments and airport authorities to accelerate infrastructure investment, he stressed. Among the airports that need expansion and modernisation to be able to absorb growth, he highlighted Sao Paulo's Guarulhos, alongside Bogota, Lima, and Santiago.
On a positive note, airport operator Servicios Aeroportuarios Andinos (SAASA), which recently started constructing its second cargo terminal at Madrid's Adolfo Suarez Airport, has signalled plans to expand further in Latin America, looking at Argentina, Chile, and Colombia for ramp and cargo services.
At Lima's Jorge Chavez Airport, SAASA has spent more than $1m to ramp up import and export capabilities, and management is looking at doubling its capacity by 2030.
Currently, operations at Buenos Aires Ezeiza Airport are hampered by infrastructure improvement work. The rehabilitation of its second runway involves work on the intersection with the main runwayuntil 11 November, which reduces its length from 3,300 metres to 1,850. This restricts operations of widebodies, a predicament that has prompted a number of carriers, including Atlas Air, American, and Lufthansa, to suspend Buenos Aires flights for the duration of the work. According to Rotate, capacity at Ezeiza has been cut by some 80%.
Port updates from Hillebrand-Gori show an indefinite trucker strike at Chile's San Antonio port over rising fuel costs and toll expansions since 29 October. Of greater concern is the road connecting Mendoza in Argentina to Chilean ports, which has seen repeated and lengthy closures this season, resulting in severe delays.
Otherwise, port operations in Latin America have been stable, according to Maersk. However, in the carrier's market update for October Alicia De La Guardia, head of digital marketing and digital sales, warned that landside operations were at a crossroads, with traffic growth stretching capacity and the established way of doing business.
Mordor Intelligence projects South America's freight and logistics market to expand, from $270.18bn this year to $348.78bn by 2031. And Ms De La Guardia pointed to a study by McKinsey, which concluded that growth would depend on stronger infrastructure, additional trade corridors, and more integrated supply chains.
This required investment in road infrastructure as well as a change in business practices, she argued. The prevalent way of solving problems on the back of relationships - knowing somebody who can fix a problem - will no longer be adequate.
"Relationship-driven exception management can work well when volumes ae low, routes are familiar, and only a few scenarios need attention," she said.
"But relying on this way of supply chain management breaks down under pressure - when market conditions change."
