Santiago, Chile, April 10, 2013– LATAM Airlines Group S.A. and its subsidiaries, (“LATAM Airlines Group” or “the Company”) (NYSE: LFL / IPSA: LAN / Bovespa: LATM11), the leading airline group in Latin America, today reported preliminary monthly traffic statistics for March 2013 compared to March 2012.
System passenger traffic increased 7.7% as capacity rose 4.2%. As a result, the Company’s load factor for the month increased 2.5 points to 76.9%. International passenger traffic accounted for approximately 55% of the month’s total passenger traffic.
Domestic passenger traffic in LATAM Airlines Group’s Spanish speaking operations (Chile, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia) rose 14.9%, as capacity increased 13.0%. As a consequence, the domestic passenger load factor increased 1.3 points to 78.3%.
Domestic passenger traffic in Brazil rose 3.8%, as capacity decreased 11.0%. As a consequence, the domestic Brazil passenger load factor increased 10.4 points to 73.1%.
International passenger traffic rose 8.1%, while capacity increased 13.3%. Accordingly, the international passenger load factor for the month decreased 3.8 points to 78.7%. International traffic includes international operations of both LAN and TAM on regional and long haul routes.
Cargo traffic for LATAM Airlines Group increased 0.4% as capacity increased 3.5%. As a consequence, the cargo load factor decreased 1.8 points to 60.1%. The growth in cargo capacity is a result of an increased availability in the belly of passenger aircrafts. Despite a delay on certain seasonal demand, cargo traffic was driven by higher volumes in certain markets to and from South America.