Brazil has the world's second largest airport network, but flies far less than it should
The IATA annual safety report paints a remarkable picture of global aviation and, when read through a Brazilian lens, exposes a striking paradox: world-class infrastructure, developing-country access
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its annual safety report for 2025, consolidating data from 38.7 million commercial flights operated around the world. With an accident rate of 1.32 per million flights and only 51 occurrences across all of global commercial aviation, the report speaks to the robustness of a system that transported more than 4.5 billion passengers in a single year. On peak days, more than 130,000 aircraft operate simultaneously around the world.
Numbers like these are, to me, both a celebration and a prompt for reflection. Commercial aviation is one of the greatest achievements of human engineering applied to mobility. Every accident investigated becomes a protocol that protects millions of people. It is a cycle of continuous improvement that exists in no other mode of transportation.
But when I cross this global picture with the Brazilian reality, the contrast becomes hard to ignore.
Brazil is the second country in the world by number of airports, with more than 2,400 units, behind only the United States. Yet its air penetration rate, measured by the number of flights per capita per year, sits at approximately 0.47, comparable to China. The comparison is striking because, although Brazil has one of the largest airport infrastructures in the world, access to air travel remains restricted to a level comparable to a country with a population six times larger and a completely different mobility dynamic.
The contrast with smaller markets makes this even more visible. Chile, with less than 10% of Brazil’s population and around 80 commercial airports, has an air penetration rate of approximately 1.15 flights per capita per year, more than double Brazil’s figure. Mexico, with half of Brazil’s population, registers 0.73. In Europe, countries like the Netherlands, Switzerland and Norway exceed 3 flights per capita per year, with populations between 5 and 18 million inhabitants.
Brazil built one of the largest airport networks on the planet. But only a very small portion of the population has real access to this mode of transport. This is not just an infrastructure problem. It is an indicator of development, of income concentration, and of how much room there is still to grow.
The IATA safety data is, I believe, a powerful argument for accelerating the democratization of air travel in Brazil and across Latin America. When we talk about expanding access to aviation, one of the biggest obstacles we encounter, beyond the limited purchasing power of much of the population, is fear. And fear is often fed by misinformation. The IATA numbers show that the probability of being on a flight that ends in an accident is 0.00013%. That is almost zero. We need to use these data points to build confidence and expand the market.
Latin America recorded an accident rate of 2.38 per million flights in 2025, above the global average of 1.32, which signals significant room for regional improvement. Closing that gap requires investment in procedure standardization, crew training, and the adoption of international safety standards. Safety is not a cost. It is the foundation on which the entire industry rests. And it is also the most powerful argument for convincing more people and more companies to fly more.
About me
I am an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience at the intersection of tourism and technology. I am co-founder and Chief Business Officer of VOLL, the largest mobile-first corporate travel and expense management platform in Latin America, and a recognized reference in the development of the corporate travel industry.
A Marketing specialist from Fundação Dom Cabral, I serve on the Tourism Council of FecomércioSP and on the Executive Council of the Latin American Association of Corporate Events and Travel Management (Alagev). A frequent traveler and close observer of human behavior in motion, I write and speak about innovation, digital transformation, entrepreneurial leadership, and the future of corporate travel.