Brazil domestic growth slows in 2012 as Azul-TRIP continues to take market share from Gol

Domestic RPK growth in Brazil slowed to 6.8% in 2012, after growth of 15.9% in 2011 and 23.5% in 2010, and will likely remain in the single digits in 2013 as the country's two major carriers continue to reduce capacity in response to challenging market conditions. But Brazil's two other main domestic players, the new Azul-TRIP group and Avianca Brazil, will continue to expand and take market share away from the leading TAM and Gol groups.

Azul-TRIP and Avianca Brazil have each seen market share gains of between 2 and 3ppt over the last year. Their gains have come at the expense of Gol, which has been cutting capacity and struggling financially after acquiring smaller low-cost carrier Webjet. Gol saw its share of the domestic market slip by about 4ppt in 2012 while TAM has been able to keep its share relatively stable despite reducing capacity by lifting its load factors.