OREANDA-NEWS. September 09, 2015. 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 August 2015 compared to August 2014.

System passenger traffic increased by 3.4% while capacity increased by 4.0%. As a result, the Company’s load factor for the month decreased 0.5 points to 84.0%. International passenger traffic accounted for approximately 54% 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 4.4%, while capacity increased by 6.6%. As a consequence, the domestic passenger load factor decreased1.7 points to 81.0%.

Domestic passenger traffic in Brazil decreased 2.8%, while capacity decreased by 3.4%. As a consequence, the domestic Brazil passenger load factor increased of 0.5 points to 81.2%.

International passenger traffic increased by 6.9%, while capacity increased by 8.2%. Accordingly, the international passenger load factor for the month decreased 1.0 points to 86.6%. International traffic includes international operations of both LAN and TAM on regional and long haul routes.

Cargo traffic continues to be weak during the month of August, especially in Brazil domestic and international markets. As a result, cargo traffic for LATAM Airlines Group decreased 12.9% in August, and the cargo load factor decreased 7.9 points to 51.1%. Cargo capacity, as measured in ATK, grew 0.6% as a result of increased availability in the belly of passenger aircraft offset by a reduced freighter operation.