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 March 2014 compared to March 2013.

System passenger traffic increased by 1.6% while capacity decreased by 3.8%. As a result, the Company's load factor for the month increased 4.3 points to 81.7%. International passenger traffic accounted for approximately 53% 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 5.4%, as capacity increased 4.5%. As a consequence, the domestic passenger load factor increased 0.7 points to 79.0%.

Domestic passenger traffic in Brazil increased by 6.5%, while capacity decreased by 0.4%. As a consequence, the domestic Brazil passenger load factor increased 5.1 points to 78.8%.

International passenger traffic decreased by 2.2%, while capacity decreased by 8.1%. Accordingly, the international passenger load factor for the month increased 5.0 points to 84.4%. International traffic includes international operations of both LAN and TAM on regional and long haul routes.

Cargo traffic for LATAM decreased 6.6% as capacity decreased 9.2%. As a consequence, the cargo load factor increased 1.7 points to 61.8%. The decrease in cargo capacity is a result of a decreased availability in the bellies of passenger aircraft in addition to a reduced freighter operation. Cargo traffic decrease was driven by weaker seasonal products from Latin America.