Cargo down at LATAM, up at Avianca

LATAM Airlines Group, parent of Chile-based LAN and Brazil-based TAM, reported cargo revenue down 12.7% in the first half to US$425 million. Cargo traffic for the half was down 4.3% to 2.12 billion RTKs, and cargo yield dropped 6.9% to US$0.390 per RTK.

Discussing the result, the company said “cargo trends continue to be weak and competitive pressures from regional and international cargo carriers persist.”

In light of this, LATAM said it would retire another 767-300F by the end of 2015, reducing its 767 freighter fleet from twelve at the end of 2013 to ten at the end of 2015 (LATAM returned one 767-300F off lease earlier this year). LATAM also operates four 777Fs.

Contrast the declines at LATAM with the performance of rival Avianca. The Colombia-based carrier reported exceptionally strong second-quarter cargo performance, and is expanding its fleet. Some highlights:

•  Avianca reported second-quarter cargo traffic up 29.6% to 254 million RTKs.

• Despite a 20% increase in capacity (the result of its expanded A330-200 fleet), cargo load factor rose 4 percentage points to 62%, from 58% in 2Q13.

• Cargo revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% to US$212 million, accounting for 18.5% of total revenue.

Avianca Cargo currently operates four A330-200Fs and one 767-300F