* Rise posted in 1st 7 months of 2009
* Load factor declines to 69.5 percent
* Shares rise 3 percent
(Adds analyst comment, background)
ISTANBUL, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Flag carrier Turkish Airlines said on Friday passenger numbers increased 9.7 percent in the first seven months of 2009 to 13.7 million, reflecting ambitions to grab market share from European rivals.
But the load factor, which measures seats sold against those available, declined 4.5 points to 69.5 percent as the company increased capacity, it said in a filing.
Turkish Airlines, Europe's fourth-biggest airline in terms of passengers carried, is expanding its fleet, especially long-haul wide-body aircraft, and aims to increase its European market share by one-fifth to 10 percent next year.
Shares in the state-run carrier, which is targeting 26.5 million passengers this year, rose 3 percent to 2.72 lira at 0823 GMT.
"The July traffic results indicate Turkish Airlines has an upward trend in available seat kilometres and revenue passenger kilometres and still posts outstanding passenger growth," Cemal Demirtas, an analyst at Oyak Securities, wrote in a note.
"We expect this positive mood to extend into the seasonally high third quarter," said Demirtas, who has an "outperform" rating on the stock.
The shares have gained 154 percent this year, while the main Istanbul index has risen 75 percent.
In the year through July, the number of more lucrative international business-class and transit passengers rose 2.5 percent and 43.6 percent, respectively, the airline also said.
Turkish Airlines is pursuing transit passenger traffic as the country seeks to become a major hub between Europe and Asia and other destinations.
The number of landings between January and July rose 11.3 percent to 118,071 year-on-year, it said.
(Reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley; editing by John Stonestreet)