Wellington, March 16 NZPA - Air New Zealand will lift domestic capacity by more than 10 percent next year to meet expected increased demand, in part due to the Rugby World Cup.

January's load factor was a record high for the airline, and Air NZ will increase capacity overall by 10.5 percent on its domestic jet network from January 2011.

Capacity will be increased again later next year by 26 percent during the World Cup.

The extra seats will be available with the arrival of Air NZ's new Airbus A320 fleet, which have 171 seats compared with the 133-seat Boeing 737s, and the extension of the lease of one of its Boeing 737s.