Capacity was 28.2% higher year-on-year, resulting in the March load factor rising 4.7 percentage points to 77.7%.

LAN noted that the figures for last year were impacted by the earthquake off the coast of Chile on 27 February 2010. In addition, effective from the start of this year, the company's traffic figures include the domestic and international operations of Colombian airline AIRES.

Overall, LAN's domestic passenger traffic in Chile, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia increased by 39.7% in March on a capacity increase of 35.7%, giving a domestic load factor of 73.9%, up 2.1 points. International passenger traffic grew 35.1% while capacity on international routes was expanded by 24.8%, which meant that the international load factor for the month increased by 6.0 points to 79.5%.

Meanwhile LAN's cargo traffic increased by 19.5% compared to March 2010. This was attributed to growth of the import markets to Latin America, driven by Brazil, and to the arrival of three new Boeing 767 freighters between November 2010 and January 2011. Additionally, in June 2010 LAN Cargo launched domestic cargo operations in Brazil to Recife and Fortaleza through its affiliate ABSA. Cargo capacity was 21.6% higher year-on-year, resulting in the cargo load factor dropping 1.3 points to 70.0%.

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