LUXEMBOURG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 21, 2025--
Corporación América Airports S.A. (NYSE: CAAP), (“CAAP” or the “Company”), one of the leading private airport operators in the world, reported today an 8.2% year-on-year (YoY) increase in passenger traffic in July 2025.
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Passenger Traffic Overview
Total passenger traffic increased by 8.2% in July compared to the same month in 2024. Domestic passenger traffic rose by 9.0% year over year (YoY), largely driven by Argentina, along with strong performances in Brazil, Italy and, to a lesser extent, Ecuador. Meanwhile, international traffic grew by 7.2%, with all operating countries contributing positively YoY—except Uruguay—and particularly strong results in Argentina, Brazil, Italy and Armenia. Notably, Argentina accounted for over 70% of the total traffic growth in July.
In Argentina, total passenger traffic increased by 11.4% YoY, driven by double-digit growth in international traffic and high single-digit growth in domestic traffic. Domestic traffic continued its strong performance, rising by 9.9% YoY. JetSMART continued to gain market share, adding another Airbus A321neo to its fleet—now totaling 17 aircraft—with capacity for 230 passengers. Aerolíneas Argentinas began operating the Córdoba–Esquel route and incorporated a new Boeing 737 MAX 8 into its MAX family, as part of its narrow-body fleet modernization plan. International traffic also remained strong, increasing by 13.2% YoY. LATAM increased frequencies between Córdoba and Lima, offering for the first time ten weekly flights, initially on a seasonal basis. JetSMART inaugurated its Buenos Aires–Recife route with four weekly flights, while GOL resumed seasonal service from São Paulo to Bariloche with three weekly flights. Notably, operations at Aeroparque and Ezeiza airports were temporarily affected by adverse weather conditions on July 8.
In Italy, passenger traffic grew by 6.5% compared to the same month in 2024, mainly supported by an increase in flight frequencies by Ryanair. International passenger traffic — which accounted for over 80% of total traffic — rose by 5.9% YoY, driven by a 12.4% increase at Florence Airport and a 2.1% increase at Pisa Airport. Domestic passenger traffic grew by 8.2% YoY, supported by a strong performance at Pisa Airport due to the increase in Ryanair’s flight frequencies, partially offset by a 3.3% decline at Florence Airport.
In Brazil, total passenger traffic increased by 6.0% YoY, reflecting an improvement in traffic trends despite ongoing challenges in the aviation environment and aircraft constraints in the country. Domestic traffic, which accounted for nearly 60% of total traffic, rose by 7.8% YoY, while transit passengers increased by 2.7% YoY. Notably, although representing a small share of total traffic (6%), international traffic grew by 10.0% YoY.
In Uruguay, total passenger traffic — predominantly international — declined by 5.5% YoY. Azul Linhas Aéreas inaugurated a new direct route between Montevideo and Campinas, with five weekly flights. Traffic in July was impacted by the removal of the Montevideo–Buenos Aires route by JetSMART, as well as several days of adverse weather conditions that led to flight cancellations.
In Ecuador, where security concerns persist, passenger traffic remained largely flat YoY. International traffic declined slightly by 0.7% YoY, mainly due to reduced operations to the U.S., while domestic traffic rose by 2.1% YoY, although high airfares continued to dampen travel demand.
In Armenia, passenger traffic increased by 6.8% YoY. Travel demand has benefited from the introduction of new airlines and routes, as well as increased flight frequencies. Wizz Air recently announced the opening of a new base at Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport, with two aircraft and eight new direct routes to Europe.
Cargo Volume and Aircraft Movements
Cargo volume increased by 2.1% compared to the same month in 2024, with positive YoY contributions from all countries of operations except for Ecuador and Brazil. Performance by country was as follows: Uruguay (+26.2%), Armenia (+13.5%), Italy (+4.7%), Argentina (+0.7%), Brazil (-0.7%), and Ecuador (-13.2%). Argentina, Brazil, and Armenia accounted for almost 80% of the total cargo volume in July.
Aircraft movements increased by 6.4% YoY, with positive contributions from all countries of operation, except Uruguay: Armenia (+11.4%), Italy (+9.0%), Argentina (+6.8%), Ecuador (+5.5%), Brazil (+4.0%), and Uruguay (-4.4%). Argentina, Brazil, and Italy accounted for more than 80% of total aircraft movements in July.
About Corporación América Airports
Corporación América Airports acquires, develops and operates airport concessions. Currently, the Company operates 52 airports in 6 countries across Latin America and Europe (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador, Armenia and Italy). In 2024, Corporación América Airports served 79.0 million passengers, 2.7% (or 0.4% excluding Natal) below the 81.1 million passengers served in 2023, and 6.2% below the 84.2 million served in 2019. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange where it trades under the ticker “CAAP”. For more information, visit http://investors.corporacionamericaairports.com.
Monthly Passenger Traffic Performance (In million PAX)
Federal immigration agents deployed to Minneapolis have used aggressive crowd-control tactics that have become a dominant concern in the aftermath of the deadly shooting of a woman in her car last week.
They have pointed rifles at demonstrators and deployed chemical irritants early in confrontations. They have broken vehicle windows and pulled occupants from cars. They have scuffled with protesters and shoved them to the ground.
The government says the actions are necessary to protect officers from violent attacks. The encounters in turn have riled up protesters even more, especially as videos of the incidents are shared widely on social media.
What is unfolding in Minneapolis reflects a broader shift in how the federal government is asserting its authority during protests, relying on immigration agents and investigators to perform crowd-management roles traditionally handled by local police who often have more training in public order tactics and de-escalating large crowds.
Experts warn the approach runs counter to de-escalation standards and risks turning volatile demonstrations into deadly encounters.
The confrontations come amid a major immigration enforcement surge ordered by the Trump administration in early December, which sent more than 2,000 officers from across the Department of Homeland Security into the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Many of the officers involved are typically tasked with arrests, deportations and criminal investigations, not managing volatile public demonstrations.
Tensions escalated after the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year-old woman killed by an immigration agent last week, an incident federal officials have defended as self-defense after they say Good weaponized her vehicle.
The killing has intensified protests and scrutiny of the federal response.
On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota asked a federal judge to intervene, filing a lawsuit on behalf of six residents seeking an emergency injunction to limit how federal agents operate during protests, including restrictions on the use of chemical agents, the pointing of firearms at non-threatening individuals and interference with lawful video recording.
“There’s so much about what’s happening now that is not a traditional approach to immigration apprehensions,” said former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah Saldaña.
Saldaña, who left the post at the beginning of 2017 as President Donald Trump's first term began, said she can't speak to how the agency currently trains its officers. When she was director, she said officers received training on how to interact with people who might be observing an apprehension or filming officers, but agents rarely had to deal with crowds or protests.
“This is different. You would hope that the agency would be responsive given the evolution of what’s happening — brought on, mind you, by the aggressive approach that has been taken coming from the top,” she said.
Ian Adams, an assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of South Carolina, said the majority of crowd-management or protest training in policing happens at the local level — usually at larger police departments that have public order units.
“It’s highly unlikely that your typical ICE agent has a great deal of experience with public order tactics or control,” Adams said.
DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a written statement that ICE officer candidates receive extensive training over eight weeks in courses that include conflict management and de-escalation. She said many of the candidates are military veterans and about 85% have previous law enforcement experience.
“All ICE candidates are subject to months of rigorous training and selection at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, where they are trained in everything from de-escalation tactics to firearms to driving training. Homeland Security Investigations candidates receive more than 100 days of specialized training," she said.
Ed Maguire, a criminology professor at Arizona State University, has written extensively about crowd-management and protest- related law enforcement training. He said while he hasn't seen the current training curriculum for ICE officers, he has reviewed recent training materials for federal officers and called it “horrifying.”
Maguire said what he's seeing in Minneapolis feels like a perfect storm for bad consequences.
“You can't even say this doesn't meet best practices. That's too high a bar. These don't seem to meet generally accepted practices,” he said.
“We’re seeing routinely substandard law enforcement practices that would just never be accepted at the local level,” he added. “Then there seems to be just an absence of standard accountability practices.”
Adams noted that police department practices have "evolved to understand that the sort of 1950s and 1960s instinct to meet every protest with force, has blowback effects that actually make the disorder worse.”
He said police departments now try to open communication with organizers, set boundaries and sometimes even show deference within reason. There's an understanding that inside of a crowd, using unnecessary force can have a domino effect that might cause escalation from protesters and from officers.
Despite training for officers responding to civil unrest dramatically shifting over the last four decades, there is no nationwide standard of best practices. For example, some departments bar officers from spraying pepper spray directly into the face of people exercising Constitutional speech. Others bar the use of tear gas or other chemical agents in residential neighborhoods.
Regardless of the specifics, experts recommend that departments have written policies they review regularly.
“Organizations and agencies aren’t always familiar with what their own policies are,” said Humberto Cardounel, senior director of training and technical assistance at the National Policing Institute.
“They go through it once in basic training then expect (officers) to know how to comport themselves two years later, five years later," he said. "We encourage them to understand and know their training, but also to simulate their training.”
Adams said part of the reason local officers are the best option for performing public order tasks is they have a compact with the community.
“I think at the heart of this is the challenge of calling what ICE is doing even policing,” he said.
"Police agencies have a relationship with their community that extends before and after any incidents. Officers know we will be here no matter what happens, and the community knows regardless of what happens today, these officers will be here tomorrow.”
Saldaña noted that both sides have increased their aggression.
“You cannot put yourself in front of an armed officer, you cannot put your hands on them certainly. That is impeding law enforcement actions,” she said.
“At this point, I’m getting concerned on both sides — the aggression from law enforcement and the increasingly aggressive behavior from protesters.”
Law enforcement officers at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
People cover tear gas deployed by federal immigration officers outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A man is pushed to the ground as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A woman covers her face from tear gas as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
