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 December 2014 compared to December 2013.

System passenger traffic increased by 3.7% while capacity increased by 2.6%. As a result, the Company's load factor for the month increased 0.9 points to 82.8%. 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 7.3%, while capacity increased by 6.8%. As a consequence, the domestic passenger load factor increased 0.4 points to 81.1%.

Domestic passenger traffic in Brazil increased by 4.4%, while capacity increased by 3.1%. As a consequence, the domestic Brazil passenger load factor increased 1.0 points to 82.3%.

International passenger traffic increased by 2.2%, while capacity increased by 0.8%. Accordingly, the international passenger load factor for the month increased 1.1 points to 83.7%. International traffic includes international operations of both LAN and TAM on regional and long haul routes.

Cargo traffic for LATAM Airlines Group decreased 7.6% as capacity decreased 4.6%. As a consequence, the cargo load factor decreased 1.9 points to 60.1%. The decrease in cargo capacity is a result of reduced freighter operation in addition to decreased availability in the bellies of passenger aircraft. Cargo traffic decrease was driven by weaker imports into Latin America.