This is a list of largest airlines active in South America (beyond 100 thousand passengers/year). It is ranked by number of carried passengers.
Rank | Origin | Airline/ holding | '23 | '22 | '21 | '20 | '19 | '18 | '17 | '16 | '15 | '14 | '13 | '12 | '11 | '10 | '09 | '08 | '07 | Passenger fleet | Current destinations | Alliance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | | LATAM 1 | 73.89 | 62.46 | 40.19 | 28.30 | 74.18 | 68.80 | 67.1 | 66.9 | 67.8 | 67.8 | 66.7 | 65.0 | 60.3 | 51.8 | 45.8 | 43.4 | 38.9 | 294 | 144 | N/A |
2 | | Avianca Group 3 | 31.95 | 24.99 | 14.15 | 7.88 | 30.53 | 30.50 | 29.4 | 29.4 | 28.3 | 26.2 | 24.6 | 23.1 | 20.8 | 11.7 | 10.2 | 9.0 | 8.3 | 120 | ~66 | Star Alliance |
3 | Gol Transportes Aéreos 2 | 30.97 | 27.26 | 18.96 | 16.78 | 36.44 | 33.41 | 32.4 | 32.3 | 38.8 | 39.7 | 36.3 | 39.2 | 36.2 | 32.9 | 28.4 | 25.6 | 23.7 | 146 | ~61 | N/A | |
4 | Azul Linhas Aereas 5 | 29.28 | 27.48 | 23.31 | 14.80 | 27.67 | 24.15 | 20.7 | 19.8 | 20.5 | 20.0 | 18.3 | 15.8 | 11.4 | 6.6 | 3.7 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 196 | 161 | N/A | |
5 | Aerolíneas Argentinas 4 | 13.84 | 11.45 | 4.83 | 3.10 | 13.33 | 13.03 | 12.83 | 11.25 | 10.44 | 9.22 | 8.28 | 6.80 | 6.12 | 6.34 | 5.33 | 5.49 | 6.33 | 77 | 57 | SkyTeam | |
6 | SKY Airline 8 | 8.7 | 7.12 | 3.65 | 2.64 | 5.77 | 4.20 | 3.81 | 3.22 | 2.94 | 2.74 | 2.46 | 1.92 | 1.54 | 1.18 | 0.93 | 0.81 | 0.67 | 28 | 35 | N/A | |
7 | JetSMART 6 | 5.22 | 2.56 | 1.74 | 4.45 | 1.89 | 0.33 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 22 | 24 | N/A | ||
8 | Boliviana de Aviación | 4.30 | 3.29 | 1.80 | 3.67 | 3.64 | 3.22 | 2.95 | 2.49 | 1.9 | 1.66 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 21 | 16 | N/A | ||
9 | Flybondi | 4.00 | 2.36 | 0.89 | 0.33 | 1.51 | 0.76 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | 15 | N/A | |
10 | Wingo 10 | 2.08 | 1.43 | 0.74 | 2.40 | 2.39 | 2.13 | 1.95 | 1.96 | 2.22 | 2.70 | 2.86 | 2.84 | 2.86 | 2.50 | 2.16 | 2.27 | 8 | 20 | N/A | ||
11 | Clic Air | 1.92 | 1.42 | 0.73 | 2.00 | 1.21 | 0.99 | 0.96 | 0.93 | 0.79 | 0.74 | 0.63 | 0.53 | 0.36 | 0.28 | 0.18 | 0.01 | 18 | 16 | N/A | ||
12 | SATENA | 1.04 | 0.89 | 0.41 | 1.14 | 1.12 | 1.03 | 0.98 | 1.01 | 0.93 | 0.79 | 0.75 | 0.82 | 0.98 | 0.96 | 1.01 | 1.04 | 10 | 31 | N/A | ||
13 | Star Perú | 0.89 | 0.55 | 0.29 | 0.42 | 0.32 | 0.37 | 0.49 | 0.59 | 0.62 | 0.62 | 0.78 | 0.84 | 0.66 | 0.50 | 0.53 | 0.53 | 8 | 10 | N/A | ||
14 | Voepass 9 | 0.85 | 0.66 | 0.54 | 0.38 | 0.59 | 0.59 | 0.72 | 1.03 | 1.30 | 0.95 | 0.75 | 0.72 | 0.85 | 0.67 | 0.37 | 0.14 | 0.07 | 14 | 19 | N/A | |
15 | Amaszonas | 0.54 | 0.59 | 0.39 | 0.41 | 0.48 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 13 | 9 | N/A | ||
16 | Ecojet | 0.25 | 0.27 | 0.14 | 0.46 | 0.41 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | 9 | N/A | ||
17 | Atsa | 0.14 | 0.12 | 0.05 | 0.13 | 0.09 | 0.07 | 0.05 | 0.04 | 0.05 | 0.04 | 0.09 | 0.06 | 0.04 | 0.03 | 0.04 | 0.03 | 6 | 5 | N/A | ||
18 | Andes | 0.15 | 0.03 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | ||||||||||||||||
Information was updated on Feb, 2023
Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay have no airline relevant to the South America market. Venezuela's information is not available
Avianca S.A., is the largest airline in Colombia. It has been the flag carrier of Colombia since December 5, 1919, when it was initially registered under the name SCADTA. It is headquartered in Colombia, with its registered office in Barranquilla and its global headquarters in Bogotá and main hub at El Dorado International Airport. Avianca is the flagship of a group of airlines of the Americas, which operates as one airline using a codesharing system. Avianca is the largest airline in Colombia and second largest in South America, after LATAM of Chile. Avianca and its subsidiaries have the most extensive network of destinations in the Americas. Before the merger with TACA in 2010, it was wholly owned by Synergy Group, a South American holding company established by Germán Efromovich and specializing in air transport. It is listed on the Colombia Stock Exchange.
Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A is a Brazilian low-cost airline based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. According to the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC), between January and December 2019 Gol had 37.7% of the domestic and 3.8% of the international market shares in terms of passenger-kilometers flown, making it the largest domestic and third largest international airline in Brazil.
LATAM Airlines Brasil, formerly TAM Linhas Aéreas, is the Brazilian brand of LATAM Airlines Group operating international and domestic flights from hubs in Brasília, Fortaleza, and São Paulo. According to the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC), between January and December 2023, LATAM had 37.8% of the domestic, and 18.2% of the international market share in terms of passenger-kilometers flown, making it the largest domestic and largest international airline in Brazil.
LATAM Airlines Chile, formerly known as LAN Chile and LAN Airlines, is a Chilean multinational airline based in Santiago and one of the founding companies of the LATAM Airlines Group, the largest airline holding company in Latin America. Its main hub is in the Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Santiago, with secondary hubs in São Paulo, Lima, Bogotá, Quito, Guayaquil and Asunción.
Avianca Brasil S.A., officially Oceanair Linhas Aéreas S/A, was a Brazilian airline based in Congonhas Airport in São Paulo, Brazil. According to the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC), which cancelled its operation, prior to cessation of operations, from January to December 2018 Avianca Brasil had 13.4% of the domestic and 7.3% of the international market share in terms of passengers per kilometer flown, making it the fourth-largest airline both in domestic and international traffic in Brazil. The company slots were redistributed by Anac. An auction on 10 July 2019 raised R$555.3 million, not enough to pay a debt of R$2.7 billion, although Avianca's bankruptcy was not officially decreed.
Sky Airline, styled as SꓘY, is an airline based at Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Santiago, Chile. It is the second largest airline in the country behind flag-carrier LATAM Airlines and the first airline to operate under a low-cost model in the country. It serves international routes to Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Uruguay. It also operates charter flights in Chile and South America and domestic flights within Peru.
Transportes Aéreos del Mercosur S.A, d/b/a LATAM Airlines Paraguay, is the flag carrier and the national airline of Paraguay with its headquarters in Asunción, Paraguay. Its flights operate from Silvio Pettirossi International Airport in Asunción. Its parent company is LATAM Airlines Group.
Voepass Linhas Aéreas, stylized as VOEPASS Linhas Aéreas and previously known as Passaredo Linhas Aéreas, is an airline based in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil. It operates regional services in Brazil. Its main base is Leite Lopes Airport, Ribeirão Preto.
LAP - Líneas Aéreas Paraguayas was a Paraguayan airline that was founded in November 1962 to be the flag carrier airline of Paraguay. Its main hub was Silvio Pettirossi International Airport, in Asunción. The airline ceased operations in 1996 after being sold to TAM Linhas Aéreas.
Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras S/A is a Brazilian airline headquartered in Barueri, a suburb of São Paulo. The company's business model is to stimulate demand by providing frequent and affordable air service to underserved markets throughout Brazil. The company was named Azul after a naming contest in 2008, where "Samba" was the other popular name. Azul is a publicly traded company on the Brazilian stock exchange, with the ticker AZUL4. It was established on 5 May 2008 by Brazilian-born David Neeleman, with a fleet of 76 Embraer 195 jets. The airline began service on 15 December 2008.
LATAM Airlines Group S.A. is a Chilean multinational airline holding company headquartered in Santiago, Chile. It is considered the largest airline company in Latin America with subsidiaries in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States on 26 May 2020, due to economic problems attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation.
Fast Colombia S.A.S., trading as Viva Air Colombia and formerly VivaColombia, was a Colombian ultra low-cost airline based in Rionegro, Antioquia, Colombia. It was a subsidiary of Irelandia Aviation and, as of its bankruptcy in March 2023, the third largest airline in the country. The company was not legally affiliated with Mexico's Viva Aerobus, another low-cost carrier co-founded by Irelandia which also uses the "Viva" brand, although they did have a codeshare agreement for their flights. The company filed for insolvency in February 2023, and on February 27, 2023, the airline suspended, and eventually ceased, all operations, citing rising fuel prices and Aerocivil's failure to approve its planned acquisition by Avianca.
MAP Linhas Aéreas is a Brazilian domestic airline headquartered in Manaus, Amazonas, founded in 2011 and authorized to operate regular and non-regular charter flights within Brazil.
Avianca Group International Limited is a pan-regional Latin American multinational airline holding company with its registered office in St Albans, England, and its global headquarters in Bogotá, Colombia. It was formed in February 2010 after a merger agreement between Avianca and TACA Airlines, the flag carriers of Colombia and El Salvador respectively, when Avianca and TACA became wholly owned subsidiaries of Avianca Holdings. TACA's shareholders were given 29% and Avianca's shareholders were given 71% of the shares in the new company.
Sideral Linhas Aéreas, formerly known as Sideral Air Cargo, is a Brazilian cargo and passenger charter airline headquartered in São José dos Pinhais, located in the Greater Curitiba, Paraná. It was established in 2009 as a subsidiary of Grupo Econômico Expresso Adorno.
Countries (every airline but LATAM and Avianca) Argentina (ANAC), Brazil (ANAC), Bolivia (DGAC), Chile (JAC), Colombia (Aeronáutica Civil), Ecuador (DGAC), Paraguay (DINAC), Peru (MTC), Uruguay (DINACIA)
Airlines Avianca Holdings LATAM Group