Norwegian Air Shuttle June traffic rose 15 pct

OSLO, July 6 (Reuters) - Budget airline Norwegian Air Shuttle (NWC.OL) carried 15 percent more passengers in June than a year earlier, reaching a new passenger record for one month, the company said on Monday.

Norwegian Air, a rival of Scandinavian airline SAS (SAS.ST) (SAS.CO) (SASNOK.OL), said on Monday it carried 976,836 passengers in June, up from 846,246 a year earlier.

"This is the highest number of passengers during one single month in the history of the company, and the second consecutive record setting months," Norwegian Air said in statement.

Total passenger traffic (RPK), a measure of the number of passengers and kilometres flown, rose by 9 percent in June from the same month last year, the airline said.

"The increase in passenger traffic, production and passengers is related to the group's expansion in established markets and to the introduction of new routes from July 2008 to June 2009, as well as adjustments in production capacity," Norwegian said in a statement.

The yield -- the average revenue per passenger carried and kilometre flown -- was estimated at 0.64 Norwegian crowns in June, up from 0.59 crowns in May, but down from 0.65 crowns from June last year, it said.

The load factor, an indicator of seats sold as a percentage of capacity, fell in June by one percentage point from a year ago to 79 percent, the airline said.

"Compared to the same period last year the group has shifted capacity toward new routes in the Norwegian domestic market, and has opened a new base in Copenhagen," Norwegian Air said.

It said the average flying distance fell by 3.0 percent in June compared to the same period last year. (Reporting by Aasa Christine Stoltz; Editing by Hans Peters)