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 2015 compared to January 2014.

System passenger traffic increased by 5.3% while capacity increased by 2.6%. As a result, the Company's load factor for the month increased 2.2 points to 85.7%. 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 7.1%, while capacity increased by 5.5%. As a consequence, the domestic passenger load factor increased 1.2 points to 83.3%.

Domestic passenger traffic in Brazil increased by 5.4%, while capacity increased by 2.1%. As a consequence, the domestic Brazil passenger load factor increased 2.8 points to 86.6%.

International passenger traffic increased by 4.6%, while capacity increased by 2.1%. Accordingly, the international passenger load factor for the month increased 2.1 points to 85.8%. International traffic includes international operations of both LAN and TAM on regional and long haul routes.

Cargo traffic for LATAM Airlines Group decreased 8.1% as capacity decreased 3.0%. As a consequence, the cargo load factor decreased 2.9 points to 52.7%. The decrease in cargo capacity is a result of reduced freighter operation. Cargo traffic decrease was driven by weaker imports into Latin America.