Latin America economic outlook for 2019 looks positive, despite the fact Latin American and Caribbean airlines generate half the profit per passenger as airlines from the rest of the world. While safety in the region has improved “vastly”, challenges also remain.

“Airlines across our region are expected to make around $2 per passenger on average in

2019, which is not even enough to get a cup of tea here in Seoul,” says Peter Cerdá, IATA The Americas regional vice president.

IATA calls the region’s governments to be “smart” about industry regulation and ensure setting-up “right” infrastructure in place to accommodate the growth.

In the last ten years, safety Latin America and the Carribean has improved “vastly”, with zero fatal accidents recorded in the region in 2017. However, “the region lags the overall industry performance in terms of accident rates” and 2018 were market with “some high profile accidents”.

These include Cubana Air crash in Havana, Cuba, on May 18, 2018, when Boeing 737, owned Mexican company Global Air, crashed shortly after take-off at José Martí International Airport (HAV), killing 112 people onboard.

In August 2018, another “near-tragedy” occured when Aeroméxico flight AM2431 crashed in the capital of Mexico’s Durango state, moments after take-off. No deaths were reported in relation to the aircraft crash, but 97 of 103 people onboard were reportedly injured.

In total, aviation sector in Latin America is expected to grow by 3.6% annually over the next 20 years.