Lessor appetite for Latin American freighter market hinges on creditworthiness

The creditworthiness of Latin American carriers is the main constraint on the growth of the freighter leasing market in the region, according to an audience poll during a leasing and investment panel at Cargo Facts LATAM 2026 in Mexico City last week. Airline credit quality led the poll with 38% of respondents’ votes, while cost of capital and infrastructure and operational constraints each received 19% of votes. [caption id="attachment_57295541" align="aligncenter" width="466"] Poll results displayed just after the survey was completed at Cargo Facts LATAM 2026. (Cargo Facts)[/caption] Building creditworthiness “I would agree with the credit quality as being No. 1,” Todd France, chief commercial officer at ATSG, said during the panel. “After that, the rest of them could be so close.” Steve Williamson, chief commercial officer at Crestone Air Partners, agreed. “I would almost view the other options outside of airline credit quality as more just a piece of airline credit quality,” Williamson said. [caption id="attachment_57295524" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] Joerg Andriof of Aircraft Finance Germany, far left, moderates a panel with, from left, Dora Alexander of Hamden Aviation; Todd France of ATSG; David Manoogian of Flight Lease; Vamshi Rokkam of Titan Aviation Leasing; and Steve Williamson of Crestone Air Partners at Cargo Facts LATAM 2026. (Photo/Cargo Facts)[/caption] Lessor control of an asset in Latin America was the primary concern for David Manoogian, a partner at Flight Lease, even with the framework of the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment, known as the Cape Town Convention. The Cape Town Convention and its aircraft-specific protocol was signed by fifty-three countries in November 2001 to protect ownership interests of high-value aircraft operating globally with foreign carriers. Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Panama are among the treaty’s Latin American signatories. “The one thing that keeps me up at night is legal and contract enforceability,” Manoogian said during the discussion. “Cape Town is still relatively untested for the most part.” Lessors can manage most of the risks if they have a collaborative relationship with the airline, Titan Aviation Leasing Chief Financial Officer Vamshi Rokkam said. “This is a partnership business. We can work through the legal and contract enforceability issues if the airline is a true partner.” — Vamshi Rokkam, CFO at Titan Aviation Leasing Maximizing growth Even as lessors focus on carrier credit and stronger relationships, 61% of poll respondents said that freighter lease growth in Latin America will remain selective with structural constraints. [caption id="attachment_57295542" align="aligncenter" width="468"] Poll results displayed just after the survey was completed at Cargo Facts LATAM 2026. (Cargo Facts)[/caption] Not all the panelists agreed with the poll results. “I just don’t see it being as such; there are too many goods in this region moving south-to north and vice versa,” Manoogian said. ATSG’s leasing arm CAM also sees demand continuing to expand, particularly as e-commerce matures, France said. “I tend to live in the rose-colored-glasses space,” he said. “We see growth coming in this space. You never seem to have a problem filling up the aircraft going south-to-north.” Hamden Aviation Chief Marketing Officer Dora Alexander said the biggest growth driver is likely to remain e-commerce, but cautioned that Latin America is not a uniform market. Market barriers “The average Latin American person spends around $450 per year [via e-commerce] versus closer to $4,000 in North America,” she said. “So, obviously, there’s a lot of growth potential there, and it’s very uneven.” Investment losses in Latin America may also be limiting freighter lease growth in the region. A 1994-vintage 737-400SF (26299, ex-ASL Airlines Ireland) Hamden Aviation had leased to Brazil-based Total Linhas Aereas was written off when a fire erupted in the freighter’s maindeck cargo compartment in November 2024. Some investors are hesitant to invest in Latin America because they are focusing on failures rather than today’s operating reality, Crestone’s Williamson said. “That comes from probably some legacy investor mindset,” he said. “Investors tend to have long memories for things that don’t work out for them.” See Cargo Facts’ coverage of Cargo Facts LATAM 2026 . Cargo Facts will present four invaluable events for airfreight professionals in 2026, the next of which is Cargo Facts Asia on March 23-25. To see the agendas and register for the events, visit CargoFactsEvents.com .

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