UPDATE 1-Turkish Airlines Jan-Oct passengers up 10.1 pct

* Jan-Oct passenger numbers 20.9 million

* Load factor falls 3.6 points to 71.5 pct (Adds details, background)

ISTANBUL, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THYAO.IS) said on Wednesday its passenger numbers rose 10.1 percent to 20.9 million in the first ten months of the year as it gained market share in Europe.

The load factor, a measure of seats sold relative to total capacity, fell 3.6 percentage points to 71.5 percent, the company said in a filing to the stock exchange.

The load factor is declining as Turkish Airlines, Europe's fourth-biggest carrier by passengers, expands its fleet. It has already doubled the number of seats on long-haul planes alone in the last two years.

Available seat kilometres rose 20.9 percent to 46.3 billion in the January-October period, while revenue passenger kilometres climbed 15.1 percent to 33 billion.

The number of landings rose 11.2 percent to 176,459 in the same period.

Turkish Airlines is scheduled to release its third-quarter results on Wednesday.

Shares in the company were down 1.3 percent at 4.54 lira in Istanbul at 1420 GMT. (Writing by Daren Butler, editing by Will Waterman)