LATAM Airlines reports strong increase in passenger numbers
LATAM Airlines, one of the leading airlines in Latin America, has reported its preliminary monthly traffic statistics for June 2012 compared to June 2011.
System wide passenger traffic increased 11.5 per cent as capacity rose by six per cent.
As a result, the company’s load factor for the month increased 3.8 points to 77.8 per cent.
International passenger traffic accounted for approximately 52.5 per cent 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 25.6 per cent, as capacity increased 23 per cent.
As a consequence, the domestic passenger load factor increased 1.6 points to 76.1 per cent.
Domestic passenger traffic in Brazil rose 10.9 per cent, as capacity increased 2.5 per cent.
As a consequence, the domestic Brazil passenger load factor increased 5.4 points to 72 per cent.
International passenger traffic rose nine per cent, while capacity increased 4.9 per cent.
Accordingly, the international passenger load factor for the month increased 3.1 points to 82.5 per cent.
International traffic includes international operations of both LAN and TAM on regional and long haul routes.
Cargo traffic for LAN grew 1.3 per cent as capacity increased 0.3 per cent.
As a consequence, the cargo load factor increased 0.7 points to 69.5 per cent.
The slight growth in cargo capacity is a result of an increased availability in the bellies of passenger aircrafts.
Cargo traffic growth was driven by strong demand for commodities from South America, partially offset by weaker imports into Latin America.