OREANDA-NEWS. JSC Aeroflot ("the Company", Moscow Exchange ticker: AFLT) announces operating results of the Company and Aeroflot Group ("the Group") for March 2014 and the first quarter of 2014.

Passenger traffic in March 2014 totalled 1.84 mln. This represented 16.8% year-on-year growth, nearly double the overall Russian industry growth rate for the period of 8.9%. The increase was primarily due to a 34.8% rise in domestic traffic on the back of additional available capacity. International traffic rose 5.7% in March 2014. For Q1 2014, passenger traffic totalled 4.98 mln, a 15.2% year-on-year increase and faster than the 10.3% year-on-year increase for the industry as a whole.

Revenue passenger kilometres ("RPK") for March 2014 totalled 5.27 bln, a year-on-year increase of 11.4%. RPKs for domestic flights were the main growth driver (up 33.4% year-on-year), while RPKs on international flights posted a rise of 3.0%. Aeroflot's March RPK growth rate was significantly faster than that of the industry as a whole (4.3%). For Q1 2014, RPKs increased 10.5% year-on-year to 14.39 bln. This growth was faster than the 7.4% year-on-year increase for the industry as a whole.

In Q1 2014 the Company expanded its fleet, flying eight new Airbus A320s, one new Boeing 737-800 and three new Boeing 777-300ERs. These additions contributed to a 16.9% year-on-year rise in available seat kilometres ("ASK") for March 2014 and a 14.2% increase for Q1 2014. The new factory-direct planes also contributed to the ongoing modernisation of the fleet, which is now one of the youngest in Europe.

Higher ASK contributed to a decrease in the passenger load factor; it was 76.0% for the month, 3.3 percentage points lower than for March 2013.

Total passenger traffic for March 2014 was 2.48 mln, up 10.7% year-on-year. The main factor driving passenger traffic growth was a 28.9% increase in domestic traffic. International traffic declined 2.7% for the month. Passenger traffic for Q1 2014 increased 12.2% year-on-year to 6.89 mln.

March RPK increased 0.3% year-on-year to 6.53 bln. The significant growth in domestic RPKs of 21.7% was balanced by a decrease in international RPKs of 8.7%, which was primarily due to reallocation of some OrenAir capacity from Middle East and Asia routes (due to political instability) to European destinations. RPK for Q1 2014 increased 2.8% to 18.36 bln.

The passenger load factor for March 2014 was 74.6%.

In 2013 JSC Aeroflot discontinued its dedicated cargo fleet, switching to belly cargo operations. This was the main reason that cargo carried decreased 19.1% year-on-year in March 2014.

The tables below provide key operating results for JSC Aeroflot and Aeroflot Group.