Strategy for Profitable Growth in Latin America
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced an industry strategy for profitable growth in Latin American aviation.
“Profitable growth requires that all aviation stakeholders in Latin America—airlines, airports and infrastructure providers— work with a common vision to achieve our priorities: safety, security, cost reduction, environmental responsibility and liberalization,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO in the opening address of the Wings of Change conference in Santiago, Chile.
“We must build on success. In the past decade the Latin American industry has been transformed. Today, the region’s financial results stand out as positive—delivering US$800 million of profit in both 2009 and 2010. This is a remarkable achievement amid one of the biggest crises that the air transport industry has ever faced. But the success of the Latin American industry is based on the leadership of a few countries. Our strategy is to build a solid foundation for future profitable growth by spreading this success more broadly across the region,” said Bisignani.
Latin America was the only region to deliver a profit in 2009. This year’s expected regional profit of US$800 million is second only to the US$900 million profit expected to be realized by Asia-Pacific carriers. Traffic demand in the region was flat in 2009 but is now forecast to grow by 12.2% in 2010. This outstrips the industry global performance of -5.2% in 2009 and +7.3% expected for 2010.
Bisignani outlined specific recommendations on priorities for Latin American aviation:
Safety:
