The Busiest Domestic Routes In Latin America In 2023

Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Peru are on this list.

1/ Sao Paulo Congonhas – Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont.

Where else to start but in Brazil? The region’s busiest domestic route is the one connecting the two main Brazilian cities, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. More specifically, it is the route connecting Congonhas Airport (CGH) to Santos Dumont Airport (SDU).

According to OAG, this route has 5.75 million seats available. Per Cirium, it is operated by three companies: Azul Linhas Aéreas (with 79 weekly flights as of December 2023), GOL Linhas Aéreas (134 weekly flights), and LATAM Brasil (132 weekly flights).

Did you know? In 2022, LATAM celebrated a special flight, called Voo do Rock, with a DJ on this route to commemorate the iconic Rock in Rio music festival.

2/ Bogota-Medellín

We move now to Colombia, and the route serves the two main airports in this South American country, Bogota El Dorado International (BOG) and Medellín International (MDE). It has 5.47 million seats available.

This route has 345 weekly flights as of December 2023. It is currently operated by three airlines: avianca (196 weekly flights), LATAM (111 weekly flights), and Wingo (38 weekly flights). However, the route has seen a significant decrease in operators. Just last year, it also had Viva Air and Ultra Air, but these two carriers went bankrupt in 2023.

3/ Cancún-Mexico City

Surprisingly, this route is not in second place. It has 5.01 million seats available, according to OAG. It is the most popular route in Mexico, so much so that there are flights to Cancun (CUN) available from three different airports near Mexico City – Mexico City International (MEX), Felipe Ángeles International (NLU), and Toluca International (TLC).

Aeromexico, Viva Aerobus, and Volaris offer 286 weekly flights from these three airports to Cancun as of December 2023.

4/ Bogota-Cali

We are back in Colombia for number four. This route connects Bogota El Dorado to Cali International (CLO). It has 4.12 million seats available.

Four airlines currently serve the route, operating 256 weekly flights. avianca has the largest number of flights, with 147, followed by LATAM (86), easyFly (14), and Wingo (nine).

5/ Mexico City-Monterrey

The top five is completed by this route connecting Mexico City International to Monterrey International (MTY). This route has 4.07 million seats.

Three airlines operate on this route: Aeromexico (90 weekly flights), Viva Aerobus (76 weekly flights based in Monterrey), and Volaris (25 weekly flights). Monterrey is also served from the Felipe Ángeles Airport by two of these three companies (Aeromexico and Viva Aerobus) and the new Mexicana de Aviación.

6/ Bogota-Cartagena

Bogota’s third route on this list, and sixth overall, connects El Dorado to one of the country’s top touristic destinations, the beautiful Cartagena de Indias (CTG). This route has 4.02 million seats available.

It is served by avianca (132 weekly flights), LATAM (78 weekly flights), and Wingo (16 weekly flights).

7/ Guadalajara-Mexico City

Once again, we are back in Mexico (for the last time on this ranking). In number seven, we find the route connecting Mexico City to Guadalajara (GDL). It has 3.56 million seats available.

Unsurprisingly, it is served by Aeromexico (75 weekly flights), Volaris (56 weekly flights), and Viva Aerobus (41 weekly flights), for a total of 172 weekly flights and 31,222 seats.

8/ Cuzco-Lima

This is Peru’s only route on this list, connecting Lima International (LIM) with the country’s second-largest city and a top touristic destination, Cuzco (CUZ). It has 3.44 million seats available, according to OAG.

Just two airlines operate on this route: Sky Airline, with 48 weekly flights, and LATAM Peru, with 137, for a total of 185 weekly services.

9/ Brasilia-Sao Paulo Congonhas

We are back in Brazil for the last two routes on this ranking. In number nine, we find the route connecting Sao Paulo Congonhas to Brasilia International (BSB). This city pair has 3.11 million seats.

LATAM Brasil operates 72 weekly flights on this route, followed by GOL Linhas Aéreas with 161 and Azul Linhas Aéreas with 138. That gives us a total of 171 weekly flights and 29,176 seats.

10/ Sao Paulo Congonhas-Porto Alegre

Finally, we have the route connecting Congonhas to Porto Alegre International (POA) at number ten. This route has 2.98 million seats available.

It is also operated by LATAM (77 weekly flights), GOL (49 weekly flights), and Azul (30 weekly flights). It has a total of 156 weekly flights and 27,014 seats.

Some routes that were left out of this ranking include Mexico City-Tijuana, Buenos Aires-Córdoba, and Quito-Guayaquil.

Source: Simple Flying