ALTA Member Airlines 2014 Passenger Traffic Increases 5.6%

The Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) announced that its member airlines carried 179.7 million passengers in 2014, up 5.6% from the previous year. That 2014 passenger traffic increase translates into 9.5 million additional passengers transported in one year.

Traffic (RPK) grew 5.8% and capacity (ASK) increased 3.2%, bringing up the load factor to 79.5%, 2.0 percentage points higher than in 2013.

Eduardo Iglesias, Executive Director, said: “While 2014 was a complex year, we are pleased with the strong traffic performance of our airlines. In 2014 ALTA’s Airlines transported 50 million more passengers than five years ago and 9.5 million additional passengers as compared to 2013. This achievement in passenger growth confirms the projections made by analysts and supports the projected future traffic in our region. Attention must be paid to airport infrastructure, air traffic management, and facilitation of immigration, security, and customs processes so that the experience of our customers can be improved. ALTA is working together with our members, governments, and other local and international associations to promote improvements in these areas of opportunities, since aviation is an important engine of economic development”

The number of passengers carried during December 2014 increased 5.4% versus the same month of the previous year, reaching 16.4 million passengers or approximately 837,000 additional passengers as compared with December 2013. In that month, traffic (RPK) rose 5.2%, capacity (ASK) increased 4.6%, and the passenger load factor reached 79.5%, 0.4 percentage points higher than December 2013.

Freight ton kilometers (FTK) declined 0.8% in 2014 and 4.0% in December.