OREANDA-NEWS. February 06, 2014. Aeroflot ("the Company", Moscow Exchange ticker: AFLT) announces record operating results in the modern history of the Company and Aeroflot Group ("the Group") for the twelve months ending 31 December 2013. Key drivers of the strong operational highlights included: a marked expansion of the route network, fleet enlargement and passenger traffic growth.

Highlights
Aeroflot standalone:

Passenger traffic for the full year 2013 was a record 20.9 million. This represented 18.4% year-on-year growth, considerably ahead of the overall Russian industry growth rate of 14.2%. December 2013 passenger traffic was 1.6 million, a 17.0% rise over December 2012 (and well ahead of the 9.6% rise of the overall industry).

Revenue passenger kilometres in 2013 totalled 50.5 bln, a year-on-year increase of 19.2% (versus 15.0% for the industry overall). In December revenue passenger kilometres increased 13.3%, versus 10.1% for the industry overall.

In 2013 the Company expanded its fleet, flying eight new Airbus A320s, five new Airbus A321s, three new Boeing 737-800s and four new Boeing 777-300s. Despite the larger fleet driving available seat kilometres 17.8% higher, the passenger load factor was 78.8%, or 0.9 percentage points higher than in 2012.

Aeroflot Group:

Total passenger traffic in 2013 rose 14.3% year-on-year to 31.4 million. For December, passenger traffic was 2.3 million, a 13.3% increase over the same period a year earlier.

Revenue passenger kilometres for 2013 increased 14.3% year-on-year to 85.3 bln. In December revenue passenger kilometres increased 6.9% versus the same period a year earlier to 6.3 billion;

The passenger load factor for 2013 was 0.1 percentage point higher at 78.2%, despite a slight decrease (0.3 percentage points) in December versus the same period a year earlier.

Key factors that impacted the Group’s 2013 operating results:

Aeroflot standalone continued attract more passengers by delivering a premium product at a competitive price, maintaining a strong safety record and expanding its network of routes.

Charter subsidiary Orenburg Airlines redirected some of its capacity to European destinations from the Middle East and Asia due to political instability in those regions.

Russian Far Eastern carrier Aurora Airlines was formed through the combination of Sakhalin Airways (SAT) and Vladivostok Avia, integrating the route networks and optimising the fleets of the two formerly separate subsidiaries.

JSC Aeroflot discontinued its dedicated cargo fleet, switching to belly cargo operations.

The tables below provide key operating results for Aeroflot and Aeroflot Group.