Latin American air cargo growth collides with saturated airports

Cargo volumes out of Latin America grew 3.6% in the first half of this year, according to IATA — and 54% of the region's airports are already showing signs of saturation, according to ALTA (the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association).

ALTA CEO Peter Cerda warned that growth is on a collision course with capacity constraints. Future expansion, he stressed, will depend largely on governments and airport authorities accelerating infrastructure investment. He highlighted São Paulo's Guarulhos, Bogotá, Lima and Santiago as airports requiring expansion and modernisation to absorb rising traffic.

Which carriers are adding capacity?

Air Canada resumed Santiago and Lima service last month. It serves the Chilean capital with four weekly nonstop flights each from Montreal and Toronto using B787-9s — the only carrier flying direct on these routes. Its return to Peru, twice weekly from Toronto and Montreal with B787-9s, ended a three-year hiatus.

Air Canada also deployed the B787-9 on its Bogotá route, increasing capacity from the A330 previously used. In Guatemala, nonstop A330 flights between Montreal and Guatemala City, launched in October 2025 seasonally, have been extended to year-round operation.

The region is drawing a steady influx of international carriers, partly attracted by open skies policies in Argentina and Ecuador. According to one report, Ethiopian Airlines is considering cargo flights to Buenos Aires using traffic rights that include cabotage (domestic carriage by a foreign carrier). Emirates raised its Buenos Aires freighter operation to seven flights a week this year and registered 18% growth in exports from the region for January–September.

ALTA data show momentum continued through July, led by Brazil and Colombia with annual growth of 9.8% and 8.4% respectively. In August the pace increased: tonnages out of Brazil and Colombia rose 11.8%, and Argentina led in percentage terms at 17% growth.

What does this change for Buenos Aires operations?

Work at Buenos Aires Ezeiza Airport is restricting widebody operations. Rehabilitation of the second runway — involving its intersection with the main runway — runs until 11 November and reduces usable length from 3,300 metres to 1,850 metres. Atlas Air, American and Lufthansa have suspended Buenos Aires flights for the duration. According to Rotate, capacity at Ezeiza has been cut by some 80%.

On the investment side, airport operator Servicios Aeroportuarios Andinos (SAASA) recently began constructing a second cargo terminal at Madrid's Adolfo Suárez Airport and has signalled further expansion in Latin America, targeting Argentina, Chile and Colombia for ramp and cargo services. At Lima's Jorge Chávez Airport, SAASA has spent more than $1m to ramp up import and export capabilities, and management aims to double capacity by 2030.

How strained are landside links?

Hillebrand-Gori reports an indefinite trucker strike at Chile's San Antonio port since 29 October, prompted by rising fuel costs and toll expansions. Of greater concern, the road connecting Mendoza in Argentina to Chilean ports has seen repeated and lengthy closures this season, causing severe delays. Port operations elsewhere in Latin America have remained stable, according to Maersk.

In its October market update, Maersk's Alicia De La Guardia, head of digital marketing and digital sales, warned that landside operations are at a crossroads, with traffic growth stretching capacity and established ways of doing business. Mordin Intelligence-style projections from Mordor Intelligence put South America's freight and logistics market at $270.18bn this year, rising to $348.78bn by 2031. De La Guardia cited a McKinsey study concluding that growth depends on stronger infrastructure, additional trade corridors and more integrated supply chains.

This requires road investment and changed business practices, she argued. The prevalent relationship-based approach — knowing somebody who can fix a problem — will no longer suffice.

"Relationship-driven exception management can work well when volumes are 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."

The region's ability to convert double-digit demand growth into sustainable capacity will hinge on whether runway, terminal and road investments outpace carrier expansion over the next five years.