The newly merged United and Continental Airlines reported a combined traffic growth of 4.8 percent in November. 

The airlines are still operating as two separate carriers and said Tuesday they had flown customers 16.5 billion miles last month – up from 15.4 billion one year earlier. 

Capacity was up 4.1 percent, load factor (or occupancy rate) was up 0.5 percenttage points to 80.9 percent and traffic is up at both airlines by 3.7 percent. 

The airlines' capacity also jumped by 1 percent in the first 11 months of 2010, when compared to the same time frame in 2009. Both United and Continental reported fuller planes, with occupancy up 2.1 percentage points to 83.3 percent for 2010.