OREANDA-NEWS. UTair Group, the largest international aviation group operating on four continents, has shown steady growth in passenger turnover and passenger load in the first month of 2014.

UTair Group aircraft carried 658,380 passengers in January 2014, exceeding the volume reached last year by 6.6%. Passenger turnover for the accounting period increased 19.2% over the previous year reaching a total of 1,508,499,500 RPK, while growth in the international transportation segment amounted to 39.8%.

The passenger load factor for the accounting period amounted to 76.3%, exceeding last year's result by 7.7%.

UTair Group aircraft transported 1,753.7 tons of cargo and 362.1 tons of mail during the first month of 2014, surpassing the 2013 volume by 49%.

The total number of passengers carried grew on the background of decreasing logged flight hours and increasing passenger load factor, which has a positive impact on Group's financial results and the efficiency of its route network and fleet management.

UTair helicopter fleet logged 8,382 flight hours in January 2014 and transported 7,186.7 tons of cargo and 53,212 passengers during the reporting period.

The UTair Group business plan for 2014 aims at further growth in operational activity by increasing passenger load on flights within the Group's route network and putting 22 new high-capacity Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737-900, Airbus À321, and SSJ-100 aircraft into operation.

The UTair Group includes airlines conducting passenger and cargo operations with fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft as well as enterprises offering MRO, personnel training, flight services and air transportation sales services. UTair Aviation is the Group's core enterprise and includes UTair-Express, UTair-Ukraine, UTair-Cargo, UTair-Helicopter services, Turuhan Airlines, Vostok Airlines, Katekavia, Helisur, UTair Europe, UTair South Africa, UTair India, UTair-Technik, UTair-Engineering, Ural Aviation Services, UÒair-TG, UTair-Armenia and other enterprises. UTair Group headquarters are located in Surgut, with subsidiaries in Surgut, Tyumen, Khanty-Mansyisk, Moscow and other cities in Russia and abroad.