E-commerce, infrastructure vital for Latin American freighter fleet growth

Latin America could accelerate the growth of its freighter fleet by developing infrastructure to support e-commerce in smaller markets, according to panelists at Cargo Facts LATAM 2026. “Latin America is a very large geographical region composed of many small markets,” Oliver Ashton, vice president of cargo for Latin America at Menzies Aviation, said during an e-commerce discussion at the recent summit in Mexico City. “The other countries are beginning to see the boom in e-commerce, but they are struggling with infrastructure and capacity.” [caption id="attachment_57295593" align="aligncenter" width="2491"] Oliver Ashton of Menzies Aviation speaking at Cargo Facts LATAM 2026. (Photo/Cargo Facts)[/caption] Some of the smaller markets, including Ecuador, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, have increased efforts to modernize infrastructure, but challenges remain, Ashton said. For example, limited technology in airport warehouse facilities is restricting e-commerce distribution. “Cargo is taking two to three days to be released, and at that point, you already have up to three, possibly four, more flights arriving with additional e-commerce,” he said. “The infrastructure has to rethink the throughput.” Modernizing infrastructure is critical to growing air cargo in the region, but it is only part of the solution, Gerry Murphy, director of global fleet, aviation sourcing and technical at Amazon Air, said during the discussion. “It’s infrastructure, technology and partnerships,” Murphy said. “You can apply all the technology you want, but if it only addresses one slice of the process, it doesn’t help.” As the industry weighs infrastructure challenges in Latin America, the bigger question is how e-tailers can use rising e-commerce demand to drive improvements across the ecosystem, he said. Limited freighter lift Infrastructure upgrades will lay the groundwork for Latin America’s freighter growth, but limited freighter capacity globally will continue to constrain fleet expansion. “Demand for perishables has remained strong and e-commerce has become a growing driver of utilization. Still, the primary factor underpinning the market is a shortage of aircraft,” Unndor Jonsson, vice president of sales and marketing at Air Atlanta Icelandic, said during a widebody panel at the event. Decreased widebody capacity on trans-Pacific lanes because of the trade war between China and the United States created secondary effects for Latin America, Challenge Group Chief Commercial Officer Or Zak said during the discussion. “All of a sudden, there was a drop of nearly 30% to 40% in terms of the demand from China into the U.S.,” he said. “Carriers had to do something with this capacity. Some of it went to Europe. Some of it went into South America.” In the narrowbody sector, strong passenger demand has raised values on current-generation feedstock and engines while decreasing conversion assets. “We still find demand out there. We see that e-commerce is growing demand for the aircraft,” Lee London, senior vice president of sales and marketing at EFW, said during a narrowbody discussion. “But simply, today, the feedstock situation is making it very, very difficult.” Cargo Facts will present four invaluable events for airfreight professionals in 2026, the next of which is <a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://cargofactsevents.com/asia/?utm_campaign=22235567-CF%20Asia%202026&utm_source=Editorial&utm_medium=article%20event%20footer&utm_term=CF%20website&utm_content=Learn%20More&utm_source=Weekly+Update+-+Cargo+Facts&utm_campaign=fbe548904b-CF+Update_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_621baa6827-fbe548904b-40083601&mc_cid=fbe548904b&mc_eid=adbe8bb0b4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cargo Facts Asia on March 23-25. To see the agendas and register for the events, visit CargoFactsEvents.com .

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