Most airline passengers interact with an alliance before they realise one exists. The lounge access waiting at the other end of a long-haul flight. The frequent-flyer miles earned on a carrier they have never flown before. The ability to check baggage in London and collect it in Sydney despite travelling on multiple airlines with different owners, different liveries and different national identities. Today these experiences feel routine. In the late 1990s they represented one of the most ambitious experiments the aviation industry had ever attempted.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is expanding the presence of its cargo offerings in Latin America, including the Cargo Accounts Settlement Systems (CASS). Cargo tonne kilometers for carriers based in the region grew an average 3.3% year-on-year in the 10 years to April 2026, resulting in a cumulative growth of 38.8% over the decade. This underpins the following developments: