UPDATED ON FEBRUARY 4, 2015 WITH READER VOTE AND ACTUAL DATA

The economic outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean is fairly upbeat. The World Bank predicts that growth in the region will strengthen steadily through the 2010s. Political and macroeconomic stability, solid growth, poverty reduction, and a fairer income distribution had buoyed regional growth in the 2000s.

Latin America and the Caribbean has become one of the most urbanised regions in the world. The region’s GDP is currently growing at 3.9 per cent per year, a growth rate above the world average of 3.2 per cent per year.

In the next 10 years, the economy in Latin America and the Caribbean is expected to outperform the world average, while the middle class population is forecast to grow more than 40 per cent by 2033, from 278 million to 398 million people.

According to the World Bank, the region's middle-class population now outnumbers the poor population for the first time, a sign that Latin America is becoming a middle-class region and a robust aviation sector is crucial to sustaining this growth.

On the heels of significant consolidation, including the mergers of LAN with TAM, Avianca with TACA Airlines, GOL with Webjet, and Azul with TRIP, the region's airline industry is focusing on growth and profitability.

A strong economy and growing middle class has set the stage for the region’s traffic to grow at an average of 4.9 per cent annually in the next 20 years, according to aircraft manufacturer Airbus, outperforming the world average of 4.7 per cent. As a result, traffic flows within Brazil, between the United States and South America and between Western Europe and South America will grow to be among the top 20 in the world by 2033, says the manufacturer.

Moreover, while nearly all of the 20 largest cities in North America and Europe connect passengers with at least one flight per day, only 40 per cent of Latin America’s top 20 cities do so, according to analysis by Airbus. Today, North Americans and Europeans are the most willing to fly, taking 1.6 and 1.0 trips per capita, respectively, but in the next 20 years, Latin America and Caribbean travellers will travel twice as much to reach the levels in Europe today, claims the manufacturer.

As a result, intra-regional and domestic traffic within Latin America and the Caribbean is expected to triple by 2033, growing at an impressive rate of 5.6 per cent and becoming the biggest market for Latin American carriers, according to the latest Airbus Global Market Forecast (GMF).

This predicts Latin American and Caribbean airlines will require 2,294 new passenger and freighter aircraft between 2014 and 2033, including 1,784 single-aisle, 481 twin-aisle and 29 very large aircraft (VLA) worth an estimated $292 billion at list prices.

Meanwhile, in last year’s Current Market Outlook (CMO), Boeing forecasted that by 2033, the region's airlines will need 2,950 new aircraft, worth $340 billion at list prices. Although some of these will replace retiring jets, the manufacturer forecasts more than 70 per cent will be for fleet growth.

A positive picture for sure, but based on January 2015 flight schedules, which airline serves the most points in Latin America and the Caribbean?

Let us know your thoughts! VOTE in the adjacent POLL and SHARE YOUR VIEWS in the comment section!

** Update and Results **

We closed the poll for the question... Based on January 2015 flight schedules, which airline serves the most points in Latin America and the Caribbean?... on February 4, 2015 and the above chart highlights how Routesonline readers voted.

We received 304 votes in the poll and it was American Airlines, so long a leader in serving Caribbean markets thanks to its former regional hub in San Juan, Puerto Rico, that readers believed was the carrier serving markets across Latin America and the Caribbean last month with a 35 per cent share of the vote.

Panama's Copa Airlines, which operates from the 'Hub of the Americas' in Panama City was second most popular with an 18 per cent share, followed in third by LAN Airlines with an eleven per cent share and Avianca with a ten per cent share. Slightly further back were the Brazilian carriers TAM Airlines (nine per cent share), Gol Transportes Aéreos (six per cent) and Azul Airlines (four per cent), while United Airlines secured a four per cent share and Aeromexico just two per cent.

According to data from OAG Schedules Analyser, the actual airline that serves the most points across Latin America and the Caribbean in January 2015 was Azul Airlines who served a total of 101 destinations on a secheduled basis during the month. Its closest rival was LAN Airlines, serving 86 destinations across the region and our readers' favourite, American Airlines with a network of 83 points across Latin America and the Caribbean.

ROUTES TRIVIA: Look out for our FEBRUARY 2015 VOTE and POLL ONLINE NEXT WEEK!