LATAM Airlines Group S.A. and its subsidiaries have reported its preliminary monthly traffic statistics for August 2014 compared to August 2013.
System passenger traffic increased by 5.5% while capacity increased by 1.0%. As a result, the company's load factor for the month increased 3.6% to 84.5%. International passenger traffic accounted for approximately 52% 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 9.2%, while capacity increased by 1.6%. As a consequence, the domestic passenger load factor increased 5.8% to 82.8%.
Domestic passenger traffic in Brazil increased by 2.9%, while capacity increased by 0.4%. As a consequence, the domestic Brazil passenger load factor increased 2% to 80.7%.
International passenger traffic increased by 6.0%, while capacity increased by 1.2%. Accordingly, the international passenger load factor for the month increased 4% to 87.6%. International traffic includes international operations of both LAN and TAM on regional and long haul routes.
Cargo traffic for LATAM decreased 1.9% as capacity decreased 5.6%. As a consequence, the cargo load factor increased 2.2% to 59%. The decrease in cargo capacity is a result of a reduced freighter operation in addition to decreased availability in the cargo holds of passenger aircraft. The cargo traffic decrease was driven by weaker imports into Latin America.