South America’s LATAM Airlines Group has reported significant growth throughout its operations during 2024. The airline group flew 82 million passengers during the 12 months to December 31, 2024, a figure that represents an impressive 11% increase over that reported for 2023. According to a company statement, this result also represents the highest number of passengers transported in its history and showcases the company’s dramatic return to strong growth since the end of the pandemic.
LATAM Airlines transported 31.1 million passengers in 2024 across its Spanish-speaking domestic markets in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. This is an 11.1% increase over 2023. In the company’s core Brazilian domestic market, it carried 34.84 million passengers, up 5.6% over 2023. The international sector of LATAM’s operations saw the highest growth, with 16.06 million passengers being flown between January and December 2024 – a huge increase of 24.3%.
In December 2024 alone, LATAM flew 7.3 million passengers, a 5.4% increase compared to the same month in 2023. The airline’s growth was underpinned by its strategic expansion of international routes and increased capacity across its network, said the carrier. The growth in passenger numbers was accompanied by a 10.9% rise in the group’s overall network capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASK). The airline attributed this sizeable increase largely to a 16.1% expansion of its international offering driven by larger aircraft, more routes, and increased frequencies.
Among the new international routes inaugurated during 2024 by LATAM Group were flights from Lima to Montego Bay and Rosario, plus Santiago de Chile to Bariloche, Recife, and Punta del Este. According to the carrier’s statement, “These connections strengthen the company’s international network and contribute to the annual consolidated capacity growth of 15.1% compared to 2023. These expansions also align with LATAM’s strategy to tap into leisure and business travel demand, offering passengers more options for direct travel.”
LATAM Group’s consolidated load factor in December reached 84.8%, while the annual figure stood at 84.3%, which beat the figure reported for 2023 by 1.2 percentage points. In the cargo segment, the Group also experienced significant growth with overall capacity (measured in available ton-kilometers or ATKs) increasing by 11.8% in December 2024, reaching a total of 747 million available ton-kilometers.
LATAM’s record-breaking performance in 2024 is a strong indicator of just how far the Latin American market has rebounded since the pandemic. With personal wealth levels continuing to increase across the continent and as strong national economic growth rates continue to rise, LATAM will be hoping to repeat 2024’s strong performance in 2025.
The continued expansion of its international route network and consistent capacity growth are likely to remain the Group’s focus for the year, as it tries to emulate its impressive performance in 2024. The carrier is expected to continue investing in new aircraft and expanding its global route network in 2025 while ensuring that operational efficiencies and passenger experience remain at the forefront of its offering.
According to ch-aviation, the LATAM Group fleet currently consists of 345 aircraft. This is made up of 40 Airbus A319s, 165 A320/A320neo, 63 A321/A321neo, 30 Boeing 767-300 and -300Fs, plus ten 777-300ERs, and 37 787-8s and 787-9s. The largest airline members in the Group include LATAM Brasil with 154 aircraft and LATAM Chile with 164 aircraft.