Tradelanes / Ecommerce and Asia demand keep LatAm cargo buoyant despite fuel spike

dreamstime

Apparently, the reverberations from the war in the Middle East have not dented the fortunes of air cargo carriers moving freight out of Central and South America (CSA), despite the dizzying surge in aviation fuel costs.

Statistics from WorldACD show that in the 1-21 April period, chargeable weight departing from airports in the region was up 4% over the same period in 2025.

With the exception of the Middle East & South Asia market (down 29.5%) and Europe (-0.8%), exports were up, led by a 32.5% jump in traffic to Asia Pacific. Volume to Africa rose 16.6%, and to North America +2.8%.

However, regulatory tensions between the US and Mexico could yet cloud parts of the North American picture. Washington this week said restrictions on Mexican carriers would remain in place until their government implemented reforms to bring it back into compliance with the 2015 bilateral air transport agreement, highlighting lingering concerns over market access and slot allocation at Mexico City.

For now, though, there is little sign the dispute has materially dented cargo flows across the region.

Predictably, tonnage from the CSA region surged 19% week on week in the 20-26 April period, as the annual avalanche of flowers from Colombia and Ecuador to the US and Canada in preparation for Mother’s Day kicked in. Airlines were ready for the surge, boosting their capacity out of CSA by 8% over the prior week.

Capacity out of Latin America has continued to rise. On 3 May, LATAM Cargo started a freighter connection between Caracas and Miami. Two weekly flights, on Sundays and Thursdays, provide about 100 tonnes of weekly lift on the route. According to the airline, the service was launched in response to demand for connectivity between Venezuela and the US.

Avianca, which launched A330 freighter service between Bogotá and Caracas in March, continued its build-up of capacity to North America with five new weekly freighter services on the Quito-Miami route. The Latin American carrier is not fielding its own metal on the route, instead using the capacity of Amazon Air Cargo flights on the sector, deepening its partnership with the ecommerce giant. This is the second sector where Avianca uses Amazon lift to the US, following Bogotá-Miami.

“Since we began our commercial relationship with Amazon Air Cargo in 2025, with the Bogotá–Miami operation, we have been building a solid, long-term relationship. Ecuador’s addition to this service is a key milestone in our value proposition for exporters, particularly in the perishables segment, through a more robust, reliable operation aligned with their logistics needs,” commented Avianca Cargo CEO Diogo Elías.

Ecommerce continues to power air cargo developments in South America. Last month, LATAM Cargo completed the expansion of its cargo terminal at São Paulo’s Guarulhos Airport to create more dedicated space for this sector.

Airport operators are also beefing up their ecommerce capabilities. At Viracopos, São Paulo’s second major aviation gateway, a former passenger terminal was modified to serve as a cargo facility for Tub Express, which opened for business in February.

RIOgaleão, which holds the concession for Rio de Janeiro’s Tom Jobim International Airport, is in the process of doubling the size of the ecommerce zone in its warehouse in response to rampant growth in this sector.

Prompted by rapid expansion of ecommerce imports and the prospect of expanding this business beyond Uruguay to neighbouring countries, Latin America Cargo Centre, which runs the cargo operations at Montevideo’s Carrasco International Airport, is building a three-storey, 5,000 sq metre facility, expected to be ready by late October. It is geared primarily to ecommerce, with additional space for other companies looking to avail themselves of the airport’s FTZ status.

The flow of parcels into South America has boosted capacity, which has softened the impact of rising rates triggered by the stratospheric cost of aviation fuel, now at twice the level seen a year ago.

Federico Calvo, director of Intermodal Logistics, reported that airlines had increased rates by 10% to 15%, and had pushed to raise fuel surcharges, but faced pushback from exporters unable to pass this on to customers.

“Volumes to Asia are fluctuating, but ecommerce business to South America is helping keep some rates level, especially to China,” he said, adding that volumes from the southern cone had been steady.

WorldACD numbers for 1-21 April show overall airfreight pricing out of the CSA region rose 7.7% year on year, driven by higher rates to all regions bar Asia Pacific, which registered a decline of 10.2%. Pricing to North America was up 4.9%, and was bound to rise further the following week as flower exports for Mother’s Day kicked in.

Mr Calvo has doubts over whether pricing can be contained, however. If the situation in the Strait of Hormuz continued, pressure on rates would increase, as airlines cannot recover their fuel costs, he warned.