CAF projects airport traffic of 3.9 million passengers for Uruguay in 2040

The investments estimated to increase the capacity of the sector in the 2016-2040 period amount to a total of USD 53,150 million at 2016 prices for the region, and in the case of the Southern Cone amount to USD 5,000 million, according to a study carried out by CAF to contribute in the definition of a long-term strategic agenda of the region that promotes its productivity. This will be one of the topics at the CAF Conference: Infrastructure for the Integration of Latin America, which will be held in Madrid, Spain, on July 16.
The airport sector in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) recorded an average annual growth of 8% in passenger traffic in the decade 2006-2015, doubling the volume of traffic by passing 162 million passengers-year (Mpax-year ) in 2006, up to 322 Mpax in 2015, without double-counting effects. The sector benefited from economic growth in the region, along with the internationalization of economies and the growing tourist demand in North America and Europe.
Currently, aviation in LAC generates a direct economic impact of more than USD 37,500 million annually and a total impact of more than USD 152,000 million, representing 5% of the contribution of the aviation industry worldwide. In addition, the sector annually holds more than 4.9 million total jobs.
In order to identify in greater detail the needs of airport investment in the region to contribute to the definition of a strategic agenda in LAC in the long term to boost productivity, CAF - Development Bank of Latin America - presents the study Investment Analysis airports in Latin America to the 2040 horizon. The baseline scenario of the projections made for the region estimates an average growth of passenger air traffic of 5.2% per year, from the current 322 million passengers to 1,100 million passengers in 2040, tripling its volume in 25 years.
"LAC is a market with great growth potential and with a smaller relative size compared to more advanced regions such as North America (27.5%) and Europe (30.2%). The current airport capacity reaches 741 million passengers (counting departures and arrivals, without double counting), however a capacity of 1,727 Mpax-year will be required by 2040. The main investments should be in the Andean region (341 Mpax; 34 , 6%), Brazil (260 Mpax, 26.3%) and Mexico (229 Mpax, 23.2%), "said Rafael Farromeque, senior specialist of the Infrastructure Vice Presidency of CAF and author of the report.

Investment opportunities
The investments estimated in the report to close the demand-capacity gap for the 2016-2040 period amount to a total of USD 53,150 million at 2016 prices. Currently, USD 13,000 million are already in execution of the investment. Nearly 50% of total investments (USD 25,545 million) require execution in the coming decade (2017-2026), due to the high capacity needs of the sector. It should be noted that more than 80% of the investments will be focused on airports with private management.
Mexico, Brazil and Colombia will concentrate almost 70% of the total investments, due to the traffic projections with significant growth and the lack of capacity in their main airports. The investments involve more than 220 projects linked to a preliminary universe of projects that includes some 'greenfield' projects, new terminals, new tracks, as well as capacity improvements in different subsystems of airports (flight field, platform, passenger terminal and charging terminal), etc.
The estimated investments in the Southern Cone amount to more than 5,000 million dollars for the 2016-2040 period.
In the region, which has a traffic capacity of 106 million passengers, or 14.3% of the capacity of Latin America and the Caribbean, the air market is influenced by Argentina and Chile, which cover 50% and 45.6% respectively, and leave 4.6% of the market to Uruguay and Paraguay. The latter represents 1.6% of the market.
The report includes projections on Uruguay that indicate that passenger traffic in the country will increase to 2.1 million by 2020, 2.4 million by 2025, 2.8 million by 2030 and reach 3.9 million by 2040. .
Uruguay recorded airport traffic of 1.8 million passengers in 2015, mostly with international destination, while the annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2006 and 2015 was 3.6% for the country.

The report highlights that investment in passenger terminals represents 69% of the total (USD 36,931 million), while the construction of new tracks will require an investment of USD 8,986 million (17% of the total). Investments in logistics facilities to handle air cargo are estimated at USD 3,127 million, representing 6% of total investments in the airport sector of LAC by 2040.
"The investments will help meet the demand for projected capacity, however, LAC requires a Strategic Airport Agenda 2040, to be developed and deployed around 5 axes of action: governance and legal framework; airport infrastructures; air navigation; air connectivity; and airports that are in harmony with their surroundings, "added Farromeque.
These and other investment opportunities will be addressed at the CAF Conference: Infrastructure for the Integration of Latin America, which will be held on July 16 at Casa de América in Madrid, Spain and will be attended by Mariana Prado, Minister of Development Planning from Bolivia; Esteves Pedro Colnago, Chairman of the Board of CAF and Minister of Planning, Development and Management of Brazil; Mauricio Cárdenas, Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Colombia; Pilar Más, general director of Macroeconomic Analysis and International Economics of the Ministry of Economy and Business of Spain; Dulcidio De la Guardia, Minister of Economy and Finance of Panama; Lea Giménez, Minister of Finance of Paraguay; Danilo Astori, Minister of Economy and Finance of Uruguay; Salvador Marín, president of COFIDES; Joan Rosell, president of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) and Juan Béjar, president of Globalvía, among others.