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UPDATE 1-Chile's Lan sees 2008 revenue over $4 bln

Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:06pm IST
 
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SANTIAGO, April 10 (Reuters) - Chile's dominant air carrier, LAN Airlines SA LAN.SN (LFL.N: Quote, Profile, Research), on Thursday forecast 2008 revenue above $4 billion, up from $3.5 billion last year, on the back of strong growth in passenger traffic.

The airline, one of the region's largest carriers, also said it plans to extend the use of its Boeing 767 aircraft because of a delay in delivery of new 787 Dreamliners.

"As far as this year's outlook goes, we are looking at more than $4.0 billion in revenue," said Alejandro de la Fuente, LAN's vice president of corporate finance.

The revenue estimate would be over 13 percent higher than 2007, when sales totaled $3.524 billion. LAN said it expects 20 percent growth in passenger traffic in 2008.

Last year Lan revenue grew 16.1 percent over 2006, while profit rose 28 percent to $308.3 million, as strong growth in passenger and cargo traffic offset higher fuel costs.

Lan controls about three-quarters of Chile's domestic air passenger traffic and over half of its international passenger traffic. (Reporting by Rodrigo Martinez, Writing by Simon Gardner; editing by John Wallace, Richard Chang)

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