Latin America, the Next El Dorado in Air Cargo?

Region’s cargo market potential is perfect match for the new A330-200F

Over the last two decades, consolidation of the Latin American air cargo market took place through major airlines groups to rationalise air cargo transportation in the region, setting the stage for major cargo operators to see their revenues increase 10 percent per year over the last 10 years, despite the strong economic downturn in 2008-2009.

The Latin American cargo market is increasing fast and is closely following the national GDP development of countries, which is traditionally twice the rate of GDP growth. In the region, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Chile and Colombia show a strong growth potential.

Because of nature of the air cargo market in Latin America - northbound, mainly perishables with a growing number of parts and pre-manufactured goods, and southbound, mainly of machinery, electronics and consumer goods - operators have had to adjust their networks with “triangular” operations to reduce the impact of market imbalance.
The recent economic crisis highlighted the need for fleet renewals, but also for diversification of available capacities to match new air cargo development needs, from very large to small capacity freighters.

Airbus foresees a worldwide demand for up to 870 new-built freighters to be delivered through 2029, in the mid-size (45 percent) and in the large (55 percent) freighter segments, for replacement and for growth.

In Latin America, air freight traffic should grow three-fold over this period, generating a demand for more than 160 dedicated freighters, a large part being for mid-size aircraft. The demand may be even bigger when considering the region’s consolidation and the impact of high fuel prices driving fleet renewals.

In response, Airbus has developed the A330-200F, a new freighter based on the A330 Family. The aircraft offers the advantage of unit costs similar to larger freighters, allowing for lower risk on imbalanced markets and easier seasonality adjustments due to its mid-size capacity. It also offers more flexible destination planning and competitive fares.

After a successful entry into service in 2010, the A330-200F is today flying with three operators: Etihad Crystal Cargo, Turkish Cargo and Hong-Kong Airlines; with MASkargo soon to be added.

In the current environment, freighter operators will need to select a reliable and versatile tool that will generate profits from the promising development of air cargo traffic in Latin America: a perfect mission for the A330-200F.

For more information contact:
Andreas Hermann
Vice President Freighter Aircraft, Customer Affairs
andreas.hermann@airbus.com

Olivier Deixonne
Sales Director, Freighter Aircraft
olivier.deixonne@airbus.com