Latin America’s low-cost wave reaches the Caribbean and Andes

Latin American aviation has been structurally expensive, with high taxes, concentrated markets and limited competition keeping fares well above what comparable distances cost elsewhere. A new generation of low-cost carriers is testing whether that is structural or simply unchallenged — and early results suggest the latter.

The model is familiar: single fleet type, high utilisation, secondary airports where possible, unbundled fares. What is different is the geography. These operators are targeting Caribbean and Andean markets that legacy carriers treated as low-volume premium routes, and stimulating traffic that did not previously exist.

The risks are real. Currency volatility, fuel import costs and airport infrastructure limits all bite harder here than in Europe or North America. Several previous attempts at the model in the region failed on exactly those points.

Our read: watch load factors alongside yields. Filling aircraft is straightforward at low fares; the test is whether these carriers can hold yields high enough to survive the first fuel spike.