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 July 2013 compared to July 2012.

System passenger traffic increased 2.0% as capacity increased 2.6%. As a result, the Company's load factor for the month decreased 0.4 points to 83.2%. 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 10.3%, as capacity increased 14.7%. As a consequence, the domestic passenger load factor decreased 3.1 points to 78.7%.

Domestic passenger traffic in Brazil decreased 0.9%, as capacity decreased 4.5%. As a consequence, the domestic Brazil passenger load factor increased 3.1 points to 84.5%.

International passenger traffic increased 1.9%, while capacity increased 4.5%. Accordingly, the international passenger load factor for the month decreased 2.1 points to 83.6%. International traffic includes international operations of both LAN and TAM on regional and long haul routes.

Cargo traffic decreased 1.3% as capacity increased 1.9%. As a consequence, the cargo load factor decreased 1.8 points to 54.6%. The growth in cargo capacity is a result of increased availability in the belly of passenger aircraft, partially offset by reduced freighter operations. The decline in cargo traffic was driven by weaker imports into Latin America.