IATA AGM 2026: The rise of LATAM reflects the coming of age of a region | News
When aviation industry leaders last gathered in Rio de Janeiro for an IATA annual general meeting in 1999, Latin American aviation occupied a very different place in the global system.
At the time, the region accounted for only 4% of global air traffic and carried approximately 68 million passengers annually. The airlines were largely domestic champions and operated fragmented networks with limited international reach. LAN and TAM, the two airlines that would eventually merge to form the LATAM Airlines Group, operated separately, carrying a combined 12 million passengers on a fleet totaling just over 100 aircraft.
Twenty-seven years later, IATA has returned to Rio, but the conversation has changed dramatically. The host airline is no longer a national airline that focuses primarily on the home market. LATAM has become one of the largest airline groups in the world, with 87.4 million passengers in 2025, 375 aircraft in service and connections to 161 destinations in 27 countries. More importantly, it has emerged as a symbol of a broader transformation taking place in Latin American aviation.
LATAM’s importance as host to the General Meeting goes beyond business performance. It reflects a region that is increasingly moving from the periphery of global aviation to the mainstream.
A region that grew faster than many expected
One of the most revealing statistics LATAM presented at the AGM was not about the airline itself, but about the region it serves.
Since IATA’s last meeting in Rio in 1999, Latin American airlines’ passenger traffic has grown by 557%, reaching more than 447 million passengers annually. The region’s share of global passenger traffic has increased to 5.4%, while its share of global revenue passenger kilometers has reached 7%. Regional occupancy now stands at 83%, reflecting a market that has become significantly more efficient and commercially mature.
Those numbers tell an important story. Latin America is often discussed through the lens of political volatility, economic cycles and infrastructure challenges. Yet over the past quarter century it has quietly become one of aviation’s most important growth markets.
The region remains smaller than North America, Europe or Asia-Pacific, but is significantly more connected than a generation ago. New hubs have emerged, international networks have expanded and airlines have become increasingly sophisticated in their ability to compete on a global level.
Hosting the AGM in Rio is therefore not simply a recognition of Brazil’s importance. It is the recognition that Latin America itself has become impossible to ignore.
LATAM’s evolution reflects that of the region
The story of LATAM closely follows the evolution of South American aviation itself.
The merger between LAN and TAM created something that the region has historically lacked: an aviation group with the scale to think continentally rather than nationally. What emerged was not simply a larger airline, but a platform that could connect South America internally while connecting it more effectively with the rest of the world.
Today, LATAM describes itself as the only aviation group in the region that directly connects South America to four continents: North America, Europe, Africa and Oceania. The network includes more than 1,600 daily flights and acts as a crucial part of the infrastructure for trade, tourism and investment flows across the continent.
That distinction is important because connectivity remains one of Latin America’s ongoing challenges. The geography is vast, the population is dispersed, and economic activity is often concentrated in relatively few metropolitan centers. Strong aviation networks play an outsized role in bringing together both national economies and the wider region.
In many ways, LATAM has become less of an airline and more of a connector of economic ecosystems.
Brazil will be the engine
The AGM also highlighted another important shift underway in regional aviation: the growing importance of Brazil.
While South America traditionally does not have a single dominant aviation market comparable to the United States or China, Brazil is increasingly fulfilling this role. LATAM now describes Brazil as the group’s main growth engine and as a platform from which it projects connectivity to the rest of the world.
The numbers support that argument.
LATAM carried 38.8 million domestic passengers in Brazil in 2025, while its domestic market share rose from 34% in 2019 to 40% in 2025. Its corporate market share grew even faster, from 28% to 42% in the same period. The airline now operates 176 aircraft in Brazil, has more than 23,000 employees and serves 62 domestic and 27 international destinations from the country.
For aviation executives gathered in Rio, Brazil is increasingly looking like the market that could drive the next phase of Latin America’s aviation expansion. Its growing middle class, expanding domestic network and strategic position between North America, Europe and the South Atlantic create advantages that few regional competitors can match.
A different kind of global airline
One of the more interesting aspects of LATAM’s evolution is how diversified its operations have become.
The group’s freight division transported more than one million tons in 2025, generated approximately $1.7 billion in revenues and accounted for more than 11% of group revenues. Its cargo operations have become the leading player in South America and were named Cargo Airline of the Year by Air Cargo News, the first South American airline in twenty years to receive this recognition.
The loyalty activities are just as important. LATAM Pass now has more than 54 million members, with the goal of reaching 100 million members by 2030. According to the airline, an award ticket is redeemed every three seconds.
These developments reflect a broader shift taking place in global aviation. Airlines are increasingly generating value not only by transporting passengers, but also through ecosystems that combine loyalty, financial services, freight, technology and partnerships. In this respect, LATAM is increasingly looking like its peers in North America, Europe and the Gulf.
The challenge of keeping the momentum going
The picture presented in Rio was overwhelmingly positive, but it would be premature to suggest that Latin America has solved all its aviation problems.
The region still accounts for only 5.4% of global passenger traffic, despite representing approximately 8% of the world’s population. Investments in infrastructure remain uneven. Political and economic volatility continue to impact airline planning. Cross-border connectivity within Latin America remains weaker than many industry leaders would like.
At the same time, sustainability will require significant investments. LATAM has committed to net-zero emissions by 2050, plans to invest $100 million in sustainability initiatives by 2030, and is targeting a fleet consisting of more than 50% next-generation aircraft by the end of the decade.
These ambitions reflect the wider reality of the sector. Growth is no longer enough. Airlines must grow while modernizing their fleets, improving customer experience, digitalizing their operations and reducing emissions.
More than a host airline
The temptation is to view host airlines at industry events as little more than sponsors and organizers.
That would ignore the larger significance of LATAM’s role in Rio.
The airline’s trajectory tells a story about South America itself. Twenty-seven years ago, Latin America was a relatively small participant in global aviation, characterized by fragmented markets and limited long-haul connectivity. Today it supports world-class airlines, increasingly sophisticated hubs and hundreds of millions of passengers every year.
The region still has significant room for growth. Passenger penetration remains below many developed markets, infrastructure gaps remain, and economic integration remains incomplete. Yet the direction of travel is unmistakable.
If the last quarter century was about proving that Latin America could build globally competitive airlines, the next quarter century could be about demonstrating that the country can become one of the aviation industry’s key growth regions.
For LATAM, hosting the AGM is a recognition of how far the company has come since the days of LAN and TAM. For Latin America, it is a reminder that aviation no longer simply connects the region to the world.
It increasingly helps the region to claim a larger place within the region.
