Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia's biggest airline, filled fewer seats with paying passengers in October than a year earlier after increasing the number of flights.

Qantas filled 77.5 percent of available seats in the month, down from 79.2 percent a year earlier, the Sydney-based company said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange.

The airline's available seat kilometers, a measure of capacity, increased by 12.2 percent as the company added international flights amid a rebound in travel from last year's outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome and the start of its low-cost domestic carrier Jetstar.

Qantas carried 2.84 million passengers in October, 8.2 percent more than a year earlier.

The company filled 75.6 percent of international seats in October compared with 77.9 percent a year earlier. On domestic routes, 81.5 percent of seats were filled, down 0.4 percentage points.

Shares of Qantas rose 3 cents to A$3.58 at 10:33 a.m. in Sydney.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Fenner in Sydney rfenner@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 9, 2004 18:49 EST