A story late last week in the Wall Street Journal noted that while air traffic is flat or sinking in nearly every region of the globe, it is up year-over-year in one region: Latin America.

In Airlines Plot Latin America Course, the Journal notes that American, Continental, and Delta were all launching new routes to the region. “International traffic in Latin America has climbed by 12.2% so far this year from a year earlier, dwarfing a global industry average of 3.3% world-wide.”

Travel is up, the Latin American economies are relatively stable overall, and so far anyway, more friends and relatives have been going back and forth.

It’s not all cheery news for travelers though. While the new routes will provide more options, we are apparently all paying more to get to those places.

“Passenger yields, or the price paid by passengers to fly one mile, on routes between the U.S. and Latin America climbed 23.2% in September from a year earlier — far exceeding growth across the Atlantic, Pacific or within the U.S., according to the Air Transport Association. Third-quarter revenue per available seat mile, an industry standard, rose 19.7% from a year earlier for American on its flights to Latin America. At Continental, the Latin America figure was 14.9%.

Also, some routes are being taken out of play when traffic drops. Delta recently cut service to Querétaro and León, the two airports serving the colonial heartland cities of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato.

The article didn’t address what the Latin American airlines themselves are doing to take advantage of the rising tide. In my trips, they have offered a more pleasant flying experience than the U.S. carriers, and in the case of Taca and Copa anyway, usually at a better price as well.

I haven’t yet had the pleasure of flying on NatureAir, but after bumping over one too many lousy roads in Costa Rica, I believe I’ll be making use of their services quite a bit next time I visit.

NatureAir launched in 2000 and has grown to the point of flying 150,000 passengers annually. It has gone from one plane and 17 employees to eight planes and more than 150 employees. In essence, it’s a short-hop airline with 74 daily flights that will get you around Costa Rica or over the border to Panama. Planes can also be chartered for small groups or families. Fares are reasonable, they have a good reputation for avoiding delays (not easy during rainy season), and their safety record is excellent.

What really makes them unique though is the stance of being the world’s first carbon neutral airline. The company says, “NatureAir offsets more than 6,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually and uses carbon credits to help conserve Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, one of the region’s most biologically diverse rainforests.” I’ve said before that Costa Rica’s government and businesses do a better job than anyone in this hemisphere of doing and not just talking when it comes to preserving the environment. It’s nice to see the main domestic airline sticking to that commitment.

For more info see www.natureair.com or call 800-235-9272.

Flying on Copa Airlines feels suspiciously the same as flying on Continental Airlines. The interior looks the same, the seat pitch is the same (cramped 32-inch pitch in coach, decent with leather seats in business class), and the logos are similar. None of this is coincidental: Continental had a 51% stake in the airline at one point. They sold off shares a bit at a time until May of this year, when they sold the remainder for a tidy profit. Copa Air passengers still earn Continental OnePass miles on all flights, with the same (recently hacked down) bonus levels for elite members.

There’s a big difference in one key area though: service. The gate agents are noticeably less harried, the flight attendants are more pleasant, and you don’t have to pay for a cocktail or glass of wine in coach.

Here’s what happened to me though on my last trip to Panama though that really showed me what a great airline this is. Through my own fault, I had said “go ahead” to an agent who sent me an itinerary, not noticing that my flight back was returning to Miami, not my connecting airport of Orlando. A well-tipped concierge at the Bristol Hotel worked it all out for me with Copa on the phone so I could switch the flight with no charge.

At the gate, however, the system wasn’t letting the switch happen without a fee, despite gate agent Cecilia’s attempts to make it right. She spent ten minutes trying to work it out, another ten with her supervisor, then headed to a back room. Another ten minutes went by, but she returned with a smile, handing me my boarding pass, and said, “Please enjoy your flight.” All set, and upgraded to business class on my Y-up fare.

That Cecilia was dedicated! Somehow I can’t imagine any U.S. carrier’s gate agent working that hard to help a customer avoid an extra fee. Even more rare, there were plenty of agents on hand, so there weren’t people behind me in line ready to throw their suitcase at my head.

Don’t expect to get blown away by lie-flat beds, seatback entertainment consoles, or amazing cuisine, but considering that Copa’s fares usually deliver better service at a lower price than others competing on the same route, check them out when comparing options. Business fares and Y class fares are a downright bargain sometimes. Copa flies from five U.S. airports to destinations in Panama (their hub), as well as Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile.

Copa has been named Best Airline in Central America and the Caribbean for the five consecutive years by the aviation-industry research company Skytrax.

Oddly, this is one of the few airlines that hasn’t released its data to SeatGuru.com, so you’ll have to rely on the sites own seating chart when booking online.

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