OREANDA-NEWS. LATAM Airlines Group S.A. and its subsidiaries, (“LATAM Airlines Group” or “the Company”) (NYSE: LFL / IPSA: LAN / Bovespa: LATM11), the leading airline group in Latin America, today reported preliminary monthly traffic statistics for June 2013 compared to June 2012.

System passenger traffic increased 2.4% as capacity declined 0.1%. As a result, the Company’s load factor for the month increased 1.9 points to 79.7%. International passenger traffic accounted for approximately 52% 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 13.8%, as capacity increased 16.3%. As a consequence, the domestic passenger load factor decreased 1.6 points to 74.5%.

Domestic passenger traffic in Brazil decreased 0.4%, as capacity decreased 10.7%. As a consequence, the domestic Brazil passenger load factor increased 8.3 points to 80.4%.

International passenger traffic increased 1.6%, while capacity increased 3.8%. Accordingly, the international passenger load factor for the month decreased 1.8 points to 80.8%. International traffic includes international operations of both LAN and TAM on regional and long haul routes.

Cargo traffic decreased 1.8% as capacity increased 0.9%. As a consequence, the cargo load factor decreased 1.6 points to 56.5%. The growth in cargo capacity is a result of an increased availability in the belly of passenger aircraft partially offset by reduced freighter operation. The decline in cargo traffic was driven by weaker imports into Latin America.