LATAM Airlines Group has announced total operating revenues increased by 6.4 per cent to $2,477 million for the three months ending March 31st.
The increase is largely thanks to proactive capacity management, stronger local currencies (especially in Brazil), and a 7.6 per cent increase in passenger revenues.
A yield improvement of 6.9 per cent boosted the figures, while load factors increased by 0.5 percentage points to 84.7 per cent.
As a result of capacity adjustments made in 2016, domestic capacity in Brazil was reduced by 9.5 per cent during the first quarter, and revenues per ASK increased by 24.6 per cent compared to the same quarter in 2016.
Furthermore, LATAM Airlines Brazil reduced capacity by 26 per cent on international routes between Brazil and the US compared to first quarter of 2016.
LATAM Airlines Group reported an operating income of $152 million and a net income of $65.6 million.
Results show that the operating margin was 6.1 per cent for the quarter, a decline of 3.3 percentage points compared to the same period last year.
However, revenues improved year-on-year and were offset by a 44.4 per cent increase in fuel prices.
During the first quarter of 2017, LATAM and its affiliate carriers introduced a new domestic passenger model called Mercado LATAM which features a new on board food and beverages service.
Mercado LATAM has been introduced on all of LATAM’s domestic flights in Colombia, Peru and Chile; and will gradually be implemented in Argentina, Ecuador and Brazil throughout the course of 2017.
