Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI), the world’s second-biggest carrier by market value, said on Wednesday it filled 70.1% of the space available on its planes for passengers and cargo last month.

The figure was lower than the 71.1% recorded in October, and November 2009’s 72.3%.

The airlines said the lower load factor was largely due to additional capacity that SIA put back in place to accommodate higher demand for air travel as the global economy recovers.

“In November 2010, Singapore Airlines’ capacity, measured in available seat kilometres, grew 4.9 percent year-on-year... As a result, passenger load factor declined by 3.0 percentage points to 78.9%,” SIA said in a statement.

November’s passenger load factor was lower than the 79.6% recorded in October and 81.9% a year ago.