Back to top

Image: Bigstock

LATAM Airlines' May 2026 Traffic Improves Year Over Year

Read MoreHide Full Article

Key Takeaways

  • LATAM Airlines' May 2026 RPK rose 9.6% year over year, signaling growth across all segments.
  • LATAM Airlines' May 2026 load factor came in at 82.2%, with consolidated capacity of 10.8%.
  • In May 2026, LATAM Airlines transported 7.23 million passengers, an increase of 5% year over year.

LATAM Airlines Group (LTM - Free Report) reported a year-over-year increase in revenue passenger-kilometers (RPK: a measure of air traffic) for May 2026.

LATAM Airlines reported a 10.8% year-over-year increase in consolidated capacity, measured in available seat-kilometers (ASK). The uptick was driven by a 14.9% increase in international operations, a 7.2% increase in domestic capacity offered by LATAM Airlines Brazil, together with a 4.5% increase in domestic operations of LATAM Airlines’ affiliates in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

LTM reopened the international routes Bogota-Caracas and Buenos Aires (Aeroparque)-Rio de Janeiro, along with the long-haul route connecting Fortaleza-Miami, expanding connectivity between Brazil and the United States.

LTM’s consolidated traffic, measured in revenue passenger-kilometers (RPK), grew 9.6% year over year, owing to growth across all segments. While international traffic increased by 13.3%, LATAM Airlines Brazil’s domestic traffic grew 5.9%, and the domestic traffic of LATAM Airlines’ affiliates in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru rose by 4.1% year over year.

Although traffic improved on a year-over-year basis, it failed to outpace capacity expansion. As a result, the load factor fell 0.9 percentage points to 82.2% in May 2026.

In May 2026, LATAM Airlines transported 7.23 million passengers, an increase of 5% year over year. So far this year, LATAM Airlines has transported 37.02 million passengers across its network, reflecting an increase of 7.1% year over year.

LTM’s Zacks Rank

LATAM Airlines currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

May 2026 Traffic of Other Airline Companies

Apart from LATAM Airlines, other airline companies that have reported traffic numbers for May 2026 areControladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (VLRS - Free Report) and Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY - Free Report) .

Volaris

Mexican carrier Volaris recently reported a year-over-year increase in revenue passenger miles (RPMs), a measure of air traffic, for May.

VLRS reported a 0.4% year-over-year decrease in consolidated capacity (measured in available seat miles).Consolidated traffic, measured in revenue passenger-miles (RPM), grew 4.9% year over year. Since traffic growth has outpaced capacity expansion, the load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) increased 4.3 percentage points year over year to 86.2%.

On the domestic front, RPMs decreased 1.4% and ASMs (Available Seat Miles) decreased 4.4% from the May 2025 levels. The domestic load factor in May was 89.3%, an improvement of 2.7 percentage points from the year-ago levels.

Internationally, RPM increased 15.9% year over year, while ASM rose 5.7% year over year. Since traffic growth outpaced capacity expansion, the international load factor increased 7.2 percentage points on a year-over-year basis to 81.9%.

During the month of May 2026, VLRS transported 2.68 million passengers, representing a 7.2% year-over-year increase.

Ryanair Holdings

European carrier Ryanair reported solid traffic numbers for May 2026, driven by upbeat air-travel demand. The number of passengers transported on Ryanair flights was 20.7 million in May 2026, reflecting a 6% year-over-year increase. Apart from a year-over-year surge, RYAAY’s traffic in May was much more than the April reading of 19.3 million, the March reading of 15.8 million, the February reading of 13.3 million and the January reading of 12.7 million, highlighting continued momentum from the beginning of the year.

Ryanair’s load factor remained flat year over year as well as sequentially at 95% in May 2026, reflecting stable and consistent demand for the carrier’s services. It improved from the load factor of 93% reported in both the months of April and March 2026, 92% reported in February 2026 and 91% reported in January 2026.

RYAAY operated more than 1,14,000 flights in May 2026. This marks an improvement from 1,08,000 flights operated in April 2026, 88,000 flights operated in March 2026, 75,000 flights operated in February 2026 and 73,000 flights operated in January 2026, reflecting expanded capacity to meet strong passenger demand.

Zacks' 7 Best Strong Buy Stocks (New Research Report)

Valued at $99, click below to receive our just-released report predicting the 7 stocks that will soar highest in the coming month.

Click Here, It's Really Free

Published in