SANTIAGO, Chile--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LAN Airlines S.A. and its subsidiaries, (“LAN” or “the Company”) (NYSE: LFL / IPSA: LAN), one of the leading airlines in Latin America, today reported its preliminary monthly traffic statistics and punctuality indicators for February 2011.
During February, system passenger traffic increased 15.6% as capacity rose 15.2%. As a result, the Company’s load factor for the month increased 0.2 points to 82.3%. International passenger traffic accounted for approximately 67% of total passenger traffic. Starting from January 2011, these figures include AIRES’ domestic and international operations.
Domestic passenger traffic in Chile, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia rose 23.3% as capacity increased 28.2%. As a consequence, the domestic load factor for the month decreased 3.2 points to 79.9%.
International passenger traffic grew 12.1%, while capacity increased 9.4%. Accordingly, the international passenger load factor for the month increased 2.0 points to 83.5%. During February, international capacity expansion was mainly driven by an increase in operations on certain regional routes, as well as routes to the United States.
During February, cargo traffic increased 16.2%. This increase was mainly due to the growth of the import markets to Latin America, driven by Brazil, and to the arrival of three new B767 freighters between November 2010 and January 2011. In addition, in June 2010 LAN Cargo launched domestic cargo operations in Brazil to Recife and Fortaleza through its affiliate ABSA. In-line with higher demand, capacity grew 18.2%. As a result, the cargo load factor decreased 1.2 point to 67.2%.
During February, 79.6% of the Company’s total flights left on time based on a fifteen-minute standard (all departures leaving within fifteen minutes of the scheduled departure time are considered as “on-time”). This represented a decrease of 4.3 points compared to February 2010.
About LAN
LAN Airlines is one of the leading passenger and cargo airlines in Latin America. The company and its affiliates serve over 70 destinations around the world through an extensive network that offers full connectivity within Latin America, while also linking the region with North America, Europe and the South Pacific, as well as 70 additional international destinations through its various code share agreements. LAN Airlines and its affiliates have a leading position in their respective domestic markets of Chile and Peru as well as an important presence in the Argentinean and Ecuadorian domestic markets. Furthermore, in November 2010, LAN acquired Colombian airline AIRES.
Currently, LAN Airlines and its affiliates operate 126 passenger aircraft while LAN Cargo and its respective affiliates have a fleet of 14 dedicated freighters. The Company has one of the youngest fleets in the world which has meant greater efficiency and a significant reduction in CO2 emissions, reflecting its strong commitment to the protection of the environment.
LAN is one of the few Investment Grade airlines in the world (BBB). The company’s world class quality standards enabled its membership in oneworld™, an alliance of leading global airlines of which LAN has been a member for 10 years. For more information please visit www.lan.com or www.oneworldalliance.com