The Latin American and the Caribbean long-haul aviation market has been slowly picking up, currently scheduling 7,381 commercial flights to Europe and Asia, according to Cirium’s database. The region has lost connectivity from 15 carriers in the last couple of years while gaining eight new operators. Let’s investigate further.
Who’s the leading long-haul operator?
The Latin American airline industry has been recovering faster than its peers in the domestic and regional segments. Travels to the US are booming (mainly from countries like Mexico and Colombia, with zero travel restrictions).
Nevertheless, long-haul connectivity has been having a harder time bouncing back, mainly because of travel restrictions and overall lack of demand.
According to Cirium, there are 7,381 scheduled commercial flights from Latin America and the Caribbean to Europe and Asia in November 2021. That number is a 32.5% decrease compared to November 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The leading operator in the transoceanic markets is Iberia. The Spanish flag carrier has 912 flights scheduled between Europe and Latin America. Iberia has quickly restored an important percentage of its connectivity to the region. For example, Iberia recently announced it has all its pre-COVID-19 capacity to Colombia. Nevertheless, Iberia operates 22.4% fewer flights to Latin America and the Caribbean than in 2019.
The biggest non-European operators in the region
According to Cirium, of the top 10 operators on transoceanic routes from Latin America, seven are European. These carriers are Iberia (912 scheduled flights in November 2021), Air France (856), KLM (732), British Airways (458), TAP Portugal (441), Air Europa (441), Air Caraïbes (288), LATAM (278), Aeromexico (256), and Lufthansa (240).
So we see Air Caraïbes (French, although based in the Caribbean), LATAM, and Aeromexico as the largest non-European carriers operating transoceanic flights. What about other key players like Qatar Airways and Emirates?
In November 2021, Qatar Airways is scheduling 112 commercial flights to Latin America and the Caribbean. It only flies to a couple of destinations, São Paulo and Mexico City (cargo flights only). Emirates is scheduling 110 commercial flights to São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Mexico City.
Who have we lost, and who entered the market
A total of 15 airlines stopped flying transoceanic routes to Latin America and the Caribbean, according to Cirium’s database.
The most significant loss in the region was Alitalia. In November 2019, the former State carrier had 322 scheduled commercial flights from Italy to this region. Nowadays, it is not sure when the new ITA Airways may launch flights to Latin America.
Other carriers that stopped flying transcontinental to Latin America and the Caribbean have been OpenSkies, Norwegian, Eurowings, Cabo Verde Airlines, South African Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Qantas, Air New Zealand, Estelar, Wamos Air, Air China, Hainan Airlines, Corendon Dutch Airlines, and TUIfly Nordic. Some of them may resume their transcontinental connectivity in the future.
On the other hand, eight carriers are now operating flights to Latin America and the Caribbean and were not doing it in November 2019. These are Royal Flight Airlines, Austrian, Air Belgium, Pegas, Aer Lingus, Azman Air, Eurowings Discover, and World 2 Fly.
The Russian Royal Flight Airlines is now flying between Moscow and Varadero, Cuba; Austrian operates the Vienna-Cancun route; Air Belgium is flying to Fort de France and Pointe-a-Pitre; Pegas has scheduled operations to Puerto Rico Plata and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Aer Lingus is flying to Bridgetown, Barbados; Azman goes to Nassau; Eurowings Discover goes to Bridgetown, Cancun, Montego Bay, and Punta Cana. Finally, World 2 Fly flies to Cancun, Havana, and Punta Cana.
What do you think of the Latin American and the Caribbean recovery so far? Let us know in the comments below.