BY CHRONICLE STAFF
Peter Dolara, senior vice president for American Airlines' Latin America division, is only somewhat content with last year's financial results. Despite Latin America accounting for the highest growth among American's domestic and international routes, rising fuel costs are becoming a major concern. "While we were generally pleased with Latin America's performance this past year, the price of fuel has greatly impacted our company's performance and our operations," he says.
American Airlines increased its Latin America revenues by 6.1 percent last year to $4.3 billion. That was the highest growth anywhere, according to a Latin Business Chronicle analysis of the company's annual report submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The Atlantic route, for example, grew by 4.3 percent, while the domestic and Pacific routes declined. Overall, American only grew 1.5 percent worldwide.
Latin America also accounts for American Airlines' highest passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM). While RASM for the whole company was 10.73 cents last year, it was 11.4 cents in Latin America, an increase of 7.4 percent from 2006, according to the annual report.
Compared with other airlines flying to Latin America, American also does well. It posted the highest revenue passenger mile last year - 22.9 billion, an...
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Keywords: Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Sao Paulo's Congonhas Airport, Outlook
