Underdeveloped infrastructure compounds LatAm air cargo challenges

Underdeveloped infrastructure remains a key deterrent to air cargo growth in Latin America amid demand for e-commerce and other conventional shipments. “Even if policies became better, we also need to improve the quality on the implementation part of anything customs-related on the infrastructure side,” LATAM Cargo Chief Executive Andres Bianchi said during the opening panel on Latin America’s freighter market at Cargo Facts LATAM 2025 in Sao Paulo this week. [caption id="attachment_57148809" align="alignright" width="643"] Cargo Facts Consulting Director Guillermo Ochovo, far left, moderates a panel with, from left, Andres Bianchi of LATAM Cargo; Frank Diaz of Atlas Air; Dario Matsugama of Azul; and Luis Ramos of Awesome Cargo. (Photo/Cargo Facts)[/caption] Carriers in the region must convince airport authorities of the importance of strategically building infrastructure around the airports that support air cargo development, he said. “Cargo facilities are an afterthought when airports review the plan and say, ‘We need cargo; where do we put the warehouse’ and put it ten miles away,” Bianchi said. “It doesn’t make any sense, so we have to work with the airports to help them understand that part is actually relevant.” Shutdown at GRU Infrastructure and uniformity of customs procedures determine where an airline will provide air cargo service, Diogo Elias, senior vice president of Avianca Cargo, said during a fireside chat at the event, specifically referencing Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) shutting down cargo operations for almost a week in November 2024 because the airport’s facilities were not able to handle the overflow of air cargo. “Unfortunately, we don’t have much cargo capacity deploying from GRU because the collapse was not the first time; it keeps repeating,” Elias said. “We don’t like to see that capacity and demand collapse because it’s not only bad for the operators there; it's also bad for all the airlines operating at different airports in South America.” Atlas Air had to suspend operations to GRU during the shutdown, Frank Diaz, senior director of sales, marketing and network planning for South America at Atlas, said during the session. There was nowhere to put cargo and pallets were left out on the ramp, he said. Atlas does not have the same challenges narrowbody operators in the region encounter at smaller airports but still must work around infrastructure issues at the larger airports in Latin America. “For example, flying the 747-8F, sometimes there might be one parking spot that can accommodate that aircraft, and if that spot is taken and you have to park at a remote location of the airport, it is not efficient,” Diaz said. Forced move to NLU Infrastructure development in Latin America should include everyone’s perspective regarding policies, customs relations and airport modernization, Luis Ramos, co-founder and chief executive of Awesome Cargo, said during the discussion. The young, Mexico-based carrier operates out of Felipe Angeles International Airport (NLU), a military-run airport outside Mexico City where freighter operators were ordered to relocate after it opened in 2022. “We built bonded cargo warehouses in NLU and invested in infrastructure for land, road-feeder services for the airlines that potentially were going to use NLU as a connectivity hub,” Ramos said. “We have seen a lot of increases for mostly e-commerce driven traffic coming in from Asia.” Avianca, which provides air cargo service at Mexico City, was given only a few months’ notice about the transition to NLU, leaving the carrier little time to prepare for the change in operations, Elias said. The opening felt rushed and the airport, although new and large, is not fully utilized. “It looks amazing, but when you operate there, it's not that amazing,” Elias said of the airport. “It could be much better.” Register now for Cargo Facts' essential regional events for industry stakeholders: Cargo Facts Asia 2025 on March 24-26 at the W Shanghai in China; and Cargo Facts EMEA 2025 on May 6-8 at the Shangri-La Bosphorus in Turkey.

Underdeveloped infrastructure compounds LatAm air cargo challenges

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