Passengers fly more miles, leave fewer empty seats on United Airlines during summer peak

United Airlines said Monday that passengers flew more miles and left fewer seats empty last month than in July 2014.

However, United gave no indication about average fares. Last week, Delta Air Lines reported that passenger revenue for every seat flown one mile declined, a likely indicator that average fares were lower than last summer, a trend that has worried investors.

United said passengers flew 20.46 billion miles last month, up 2.8 percent from July 2014. Traffic rose on both domestic and international service but declined on smaller United Express flights, which the company has been reducing. The regional flights carried 8 percent fewer passengers than a year earlier.

The average flight was 87 percent full, up from 86.7 percent.

Shares of United Continental Holdings Inc. rose 41 cents to close at $57.15. They have lost 15 percent in 2015.