LATAM cargo revenues dip in Q1

LATAM AIRLINES GROUP saw first quarter 2014 air cargo revenues fall 12.5 per cent to around US$406m, as weakened demand saw volumes decline 2.4 per cent and yields fall 10.4 per cent.
The combined LAN Airlines and TAM group, which currently operates four B777-200Fs and 11 B767-300Fs, reported that cargo trends “continue to be weak and competitive pressures from regional and international cargo carriers persist”.
The yield decline also reflects the negative impact of the 18.5% depreciation of the Brazilian real on cargo revenues in the Brazilian domestic market.
Cargo accounted for 12.7 per cent of total LATAM quarterly revenues, which reached US$3.2 bn in the first three months of 2014, a 6.8 per cent year on year decline.
LATAM said that the company “continues with a rational and disciplined approach toward freighter capacity utilisation, in line with a still challenging and competitive scenario in Latin American cargo markets, while focused in maximising the belly utilization of the company’s passenger fleet.”
As part of a post-merger review of fleet requirements for passenger and cargo, the airline has returned one B767-300F this year and plans to return another in 2015.
LATAM’s cargo capacity decreased by 6.6 per cent in the quarter over like period 2013. As a result, cargo load factors increased by 2.5 percentage points, reaching 58.7 per cent in the January to March period.