Vueling June traffic drops 12 pct, occupation up

MADRID, July 7 (Reuters) - Vueling's (VULG.MC) June passenger traffic fell 11.9 percent year on year by revenue passenger kilometres but seat occupancy rose after a big cut in capacity, the Spanish airline said.

Load factor, which measures the proportion of planes filled, rose 2.6 percentage points compared with June 2008 to 72.7 percent.

Over the same period, the airline -- about to merge with Iberia's (IBLA.MC) low-cost subsidiary Clickair -- cut capacity by 15.1 percent.

The stock opened 2.3 percent higher on the figures, before settling up 1.3 percent at 8.30 euros by 1014 GMT.

Vueling shares have been one of the battered sector's top performers, rising 152 percent in the year to date, as the airline has lifted revenue per passenger on new routes and more spending on extras and also because it has maintained optimistic profit forecasts in the face of severe downturn. (Reporting by Ben Harding; Editing by David Cowell)