Latin America. Air traffic to Latin America and the Caribbean is experiencing a good outlook and the most recent figures show that the region's growth in this area is the second highest in the world, reaching 8.2% per year in 2015.
According to the economic news portal, AméricaEconomía.com, although Brazil's recent economic growth has not been like that of other economies in the region – such as Chile, Colombia or Peru – all these countries are expected to experience persistent growth in air traffic.
According to long-term forecasts, Brazil will move from tenth to fifth place in the list of most important markets in the world for airlines. The growth of air freight transport is less robust, but also significant.
This is also reflected in the number of airport construction projects in the region. According to the Centre for Aviation, there are 318 projects in Latin America alone, or 13.6% of global projects. However, regional capital spending is much less conspicuous. Only 6.3% of total global airport spending is expected to take place in the region: $34.2 billion, according to estimates. This means that ongoing projects in Latin America are relatively small.
The region's share of the global total of new airports is 12.7 per cent, ahead of the Middle East (6.9 per cent) and North America (2.4 per cent).
Airports are a significant and relevant element of the infrastructure, as they require large investments and support the implementation of other types of FDI and development in each country. In addition, they are infrastructure projects that receive a relatively large proportion of foreign investment, compared to other types of infrastructure.
Traditionally, airports are managed by the state, but over the past 20 years there have been numerous privatizations and public-private partnerships and other forms of shared ownership have been introduced in the region. Concessions are already frequently granted for decades to private operators.
However, the situation in this area is very different in each country. For example, the management of most airports in Mexico is in the hands of three large public companies: Airports and Auxiliary Services (ASA), which manages 19 airports; Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP), which manages twelve, and Aeropuertos del Sureste (ASUR), which has nine terminals entrusted.
On the other hand, in Brazil, various consortia of national and foreign companies manage the largest airports.
