MOSCOW, January 24 (RIA Novosti) - S7 Airlines said its passenger traffic increased 16.4% last year to reach 4.9 million thanks to a modernized aircraft fleet and a greater choice of routes.

Russia's second largest carrier after Aeroflot said in a news release that 60% of passengers traveled on domestic flights and 40% on international routes.

Cargo and mail transportation grew 12% to 28,903,000 metric tons in 2006, the news release said.

S7 Airlines, formerly Sibir Airlines, was renamed in March 2006, and encountered a series of difficulties last year, the most severe being a tragedy in Siberia's city of Irkutsk July 9 when its Airbus 310 crashed on landing at the airport, killing at least 124 and injuring 70 out of 203 people on board.

The airline was formed in May 1992 on the basis of the Tolmachyov aircraft enterprise. Russia's Federal Property Fund owns 25% in the company, and other shareholders include the Eurofinance investment company, Sibmost, Firma Faktor and the S7 Group.