Chile's LAN April passenger traffic up, cargo down

SANTIAGO May 11 (Reuters) - Chile's dominant airline LAN LAN.SN (LFL.N) said on Monday its passenger traffic rose 19.9 percent in April, compared with a year earlier, but cargo traffic decreased by 25.4 percent as Latin American trade slowed due to the global economic crisis.

International passenger traffic rose 13.1 percent during the month, compared with the year-ago month.

Domestic passenger traffic in Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, went up by 39.9 percent, which the company said was due to low fares it offers in Chile and Peru and to new domestic service in Ecuador.

LAN accounts for more than one half of Chile's international passenger traffic and nearly three quarters of its domestic traffic.

(Reporting by Antonio de la Jara, writing by Fiona Ortiz)