OREANDA-NEWS. LATAM Airlines Group S.A. and its subsidiaries, (“LATAM Airlines Group” or “the Company”) (NYSE: LFL / IPSA: LAN / Bovespa: LATM33), the leading airline group in Latin America, today reported its preliminary monthly traffic statistics for January 2014 compared to January 2013.

System passenger traffic decreased 1.4% as capacity decreased 3.5%. As a result, the Company's load factor for the month increased 1.8 points to 83.5%. International passenger traffic accounted for approximately 50% 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 6.8%, as capacity increased 5.4%. As a consequence, the domestic passenger load factor increased 1.1 points to 82.1%.

Domestic passenger traffic in Brazil decreased 3.7%, as capacity decreased 3.1%. As a consequence, the domestic Brazil passenger load factor decreased 0.5 points, but remained strong at 83.9%.

International passenger traffic decreased 2.3%, while capacity decreased 6.4%. Accordingly, the international passenger load factor for the month increased 3.5 points to 83.7%. International traffic includes international operations of both LAN and TAM on regional and long haul routes.

Cargo traffic for LATAM increased 0.9% as capacity decreased 4.8%. As a consequence, the cargo load factor increased 3.2 points to 55.7%. The decrease in cargo capacity is a result of a reduced freighter operation in addition to decreased availability in the bellies of passenger aircraft, reflecting the challenging global cargo environment.