During the month of May, LATAM Airlines’ system passenger traffic increased by 1.4% while capacity increased by 2.1%. As a result, LATAM’s load factor for the month decreased 0.5 points to 82.4%. 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 6.2%, while capacity increased by 5.2%. As a consequence, the domestic passenger load factor increased 0.8 points to 78.1%%.
Domestic passenger traffic in Brazil decreased by 3.9%, while capacity decreased by 2.0%. As a consequence, the domestic Brazil passenger load factor decreased 1.6 points to 78.7%.
International passenger traffic increased by 3.3%, while capacity increased by 3.8%. Accordingly, the international passenger load factor for the month decreased 0.4 points to 86.0%. International traffic includes international operations of both LAN and TAM on regional and long haul routes.
Cargo traffic during the month of May was impacted negatively by an eight day strike at the Customs Office in Santiago, which stopped cargo traffic in Chile during this period. In addition, cargo demand continues to be weak, especially in Brazil domestic and international markets. As a result, cargo traffic for LATAM Airlines Group decreased 16.6% in May, and the cargo load factor decreased 9.1 points to 51.3%. The airline continues to adjust cargo capacity through a reduced freighter operation, which resulted in a decline of 1.7% of cargo ATKs in May.