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RIO DE JANEIRO—IATA is expanding its cargo payment management offerings in Latin America in recognition of the region’s continued growth in sector.
Airlines across Latin America saw cargo tonne kilometers grow by an average of 3.3% year-on-year in the 10 years to April 2026, resulting in a cumulative growth of 38.8% over the decade, IATA said in a statement released at the outset of the association’s AGM in Rio de Janeiro.
Mexico is one of the largest air cargo markets in the region. In 2025, the domestic air cargo segment transported over 125,000 metric tons (138,000 tons) of air cargo, accounting for 15.8% of the total tonnage transported from, to and within Mexico, IATA said. In the first quarter of 2026, domestic connectivity strengthened, with the fastest-growing routes including Monterrey-Mexico City International Airport (+50.9% year-on-year), Tijuana-Guadalajara (+36.0%), and Mexico City International Airport-Hermosillo (+17.0%).
IATA launched Cargo Accounts Settlement Systems (CASS) for export operations in and out of Mexico in 1987. In April this year, IATA extended that to Mexican domestic operations and in a next step, will make Mexico the second country after the US to access IATA FlexiPay, which enables real time billing, secure prepayment and flexible payment arrangements between airlines, cargo agents, and freight forwarders.
CASS streamlines the global movement of air cargo by simplifying the billing and settlement of accounts between airlines and freight forwarders. Last year, CASS processed global billing and settlements valued at $47.5 billion.
In other Latin American market expansions, CASS Export is planned to open in Paraguay in the fourth quarter of 2026, reflecting that country’s more than 225% year-on-year growth in cargo volumes last year.
IATA also plans to introduce CASS Domestic in Brazil from early 2027. In 2025, carriers serving Brazil transported over 791,000 metric tons of air cargo, of which 7.9% was domestic traffic. Overall, air cargo transported 5.9% of Brazil’s exports by value in 2025, IATA said.
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