Iberia June passenger traffic down 5.1 pct

MADRID, July 14 (Reuters) - Iberia's (IBLA.MC) June passenger traffic fell 5.1 percent year on year as it cut capacity in line with a strong fall in demand, particularly from business passengers, the Spanish airline said on Tuesday.

Iberia -- which is in talks to merge with British Airways (BAY.L) -- said its load factor, which measures how full its planes were, rose to 83.0 percent compared to 81.1 percent a year earlier.

Capacity was 7.3 percent down on June 2008, the data released to the stock market regulator showed.

To see comments by BA CEO Willie Walsh on its proposed merger with Iberia, click on [ID:nLE402852] (Reporting by Ben Harding)