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Corporación América Airports S.A. Reports 6.9% YoY Increase in Total Passenger Traffic in May 2018

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Traffic growth across all countries of operations, with passengers in Argentine operations up 6.7%

Corporación América Airports S.A. (NYSE: CAAP), ("CAAP" or the "Company") the largest private sector airport operator in the world by number of airports, reported today preliminary year-over-year passenger traffic growth of 6.9% in May 2018.

Passenger Traffic, Cargo Volume and Aircraft Movements Highlights
Statistics May'18 May'17 % Var YTD'18 YTD'17 % Var
Domestic Passengers (thousands) 3,506 3,231 8.5% 17,541 16,402 6.9%
International Passengers (thousands) 2,305 2,217 4.0% 11,378 10,700 6.3%
Transit Passengers (thousands) 629 579 8.7% 3,640 3,095 17.6%
Total Passengers (thousands) 6,440 6,027 6.9% 32,558 30,196 7.8%
Cargo Volume (thousand tons) 32.1 30.1 6.8% 166.1 145.9 13.9%
Total Aircraft Movements (thousands) 73.3 69.5 5.4% 357.5 341.4 4.7%

Passenger Traffic Overview

Total passenger traffic in May 2018 increased by 6.9% compared to the same period of 2017, primarily reflecting growth of 6.7% in Argentina, 6.4% in Brazil, 17.2% in Peru and 11.0% in Ecuador.

Traffic growth in Argentina, Corporación America Airports' core business segment reflects ongoing addition of new routes, flights to existing destinations and the entrance of low cost carriers. During May 2018, Air Canada inaugurated a new direct route from Ezeiza Airport to Toronto, Canada. Furthermore, Aerolineas Argentinas added new frequencies to Río de Janeiro, Salvador de Bahía and Santiago de Chile, while Latam added frequencies to São Pablo and Santiago de Chile, and Gol added new frequencies to Florianopolis, São Pablo and Rio de Janeiro.

In addition, low-cost carrier Fly Bondi, flying out of El Palomar Airport, continued to increase connectivity throughout Argentina by adding flights to several domestic destinations, contributing to higher aircraft movements with passenger traffic in that airport increasing 65% sequentially.

Starting May 3, 2018, 50% of international air traffic in Aeroparque Airport, other than flights to or from Uruguay, was reassigned to Ezeiza Airport, and the remaining 50% will be reassigned on April 1st, 2019. These measures are part of the "Administración Nacional De Aviación Civil" (ANAC) resolution 183/2018 which intends to optimize the management and infrastructure of the airport, taking into account the growing domestic aeronautical market and the seasonality of our regional operations.

In Brazil, passenger traffic at Brasilia airport increased by 7.3% YoY. Growth was hindered by the trucker's strike that took place in May 2018, which limited the amount of fuel available, and thus caused flights to be cancelled or rerouted away from the airport. We estimate that the losses in passenger traffic amounted to 76,000 passengers (of which 55,500 were transit passengers). If the strike had not taken place, the Company expects that passenger traffic at Brasilia Airport would have increased approximately 12.9%, in line with YoY growth reported in April 2018.

Robust traffic YoY growth in Peru of 17.2% was driven by new frequencies and promotions by low cost airlines VIVA Air Peru and LC Peru driving competition and higher demand, further supported by the overall improvement in the overall economic framework in the country.

Passenger traffic in Ecuador rose 11.0% YoY benefiting from the increase in domestic passengers as a result of the start of operations in 2018 of low cost Spirit Airlines. Favorable comps in international passengers at Guayaquil Airport reflecting the discontinuation of Iberia´s and TAME flights since March 2017 also benefited traffic growth.

Cargo Volume and Aircraft Movements

Cargo volume was up 6.8% in May 2018. Growth was primarily driven by Argentina which posted an 8.7% YoY increase, followed by a 47.8% increase in Ecuador, both as a result of improved economic conditions.

Aircraft movements increased by 5.4% in May 2018 mainly driven by Argentina, up 6.5% during the period, followed by Brazil, with an increase of 5.8%.

Both cargo volume and aircraft movements were negatively affected by the trucker's strike in Brazil.

Summary Passenger Traffic, Cargo Volume and Aircraft Movements
May'18 May'17 % Var. YTD'18 YTD'17 % Var.
Passenger Traffic (thousands)
Argentina 2,992 2,805 6.7% 16,348 14,827 10.3%
Italy 783 755 3.7% 2,901 2,832 2.4%
Brazil 1,616 1,518 6.4% 8,180 7,811 4.7%
Uruguay 174 165 5.9% 1,040 989 5.2%
Ecuador 363 327 11.0% 1,773 1,709 3.8%
Armenia 217 206 5.3% 954 872 9.4%
Peru 295 252 17.2% 1,361 1,157 17.6%
TOTAL 6,440 6,027 6.9% 32,558 30,196 7.8%
Cargo Volume (tons)
Argentina 18,954 17,433 8.7% 100,909 82,941 21.7%
Italy 1,003 946 6.1% 4,498 4,465 0.7%
Brazil 4,670 4,722 -1.1% 24,049 21,458 12.1%
Uruguay 2,172 2,075 4.7% 11,325 11,246 0.7%
Ecuador 3,571 2,416 47.8% 17,039 14,597 16.7%
Armenia 1,332 2,050 -35.0% 6,359 9,272 -31.4%
Peru 408 429 -5.0% 1,956 1,928 1.5%
TOTAL 32,109 30,071 6.8% 166,136 145,907 13.9%
Aircraft Movements
Argentina 35,872 33,667 6.5% 184,771 170,820 8.2%
Italy 7,467 7,671 -2.7% 27,942 28,578 -2.2%
Brazil 16,099 15,214 5.8% 75,967 74,832 1.5%
Uruguay 2,336 2,321 0.6% 15,899 15,256 4.2%
Ecuador 6,749 6,494 3.9% 31,378 33,300 -5.8%
Armenia 2,015 1,819 10.8% 8,906 7,992 11.4%
Peru 2,722 2,323 17.2% 12,663 10,670 18.7%
TOTAL 73,260 69,509 5.4% 357,526 341,448 4.7%
This press release was sourced from Corporación América Airports S.A. on 15-Jun-2018.