Singapore Airlines sold 66.1 percent of the space available on its planes for passengers and cargo in January, down from 68.3 percent in December, it said on Tuesday.

Airlines worldwide are hoping for a recovery in traffic but are battling high jet fuel prices and rising competition from budget carriers.

Singapore Airlines' overall load factor in January was down 2.6 percentage points from 68.7 percent in the same month a year earlier.

The 57 percent government-owned airline said cargo capacity rose 20.8 percent in January compared with the same period a year earlier, while its cargo load factor was 58.9 percent, down 0.3 percentage points from last year.

January passenger capacity was up 8.0 percent from a year earlier, which the company said was a result of flights to new destinations such as Shenzhen, Nanjing, Amritsar and Ahmedabad last year, as well as more flights to Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Christchurch, Guangzhou, Ho Chi Minh City and South Africa.

Singapore Airlines flew 1.35 million passengers in January this year, up 0.7 percent from the same month a year earlier.

Carriage increased in all regions it operates expect for West Asia and Africa.