SAS Group sells East European segment of its EUROSHOP travel retail business

SAS Trading AB, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the SAS Group and operates the travel retail chain EUROSHOP, has signed an agreement for the sale of its East European subsidiaries in Poland, Latvia and Estonia to Swedish-based Inflight Service Europe AB.The East European activities comprise SAS Trading Polska, SAS Trading Latvia and Scandinavian Travel Retail Eesti, which had combined total sales of SEK 176 M and approximately 100 employees in 2004.

The East European travel retail business is a growing and profitable market and the continued positive development of SAS Trading’s East European travel retail shops will be further strengthened by an owner that has travel retail as its core business.

Inflight Service Europe is a Sweden-based company that provides customers and travelers products, services and business solutions in the Nordic travel retail market. The company holds a leading position in the Nordic market, with retail customers at airports, on charter airlines and on ferries. Inflight Service Europe’s sales amounted to SEK 1.3 billion in 2004.

The agreement between the SAS Group and Inflight Service Europe is being reviewed by the relevant competition authorities. Providing approval is granted, the transaction will be concluded in spring 2005 with an accounting effect from January 1, 2005.

Subject to the completion of the transaction, the remaining Scandinavian Euroshop activities will be organized under the subsidiary SAS Business Opportunities AB. This will be done with a view to increasing the possibilities of generating synergies while maintaining the flexibility for further development under SAS ownership and creating the conditions to enable divestment of one or more of the activities in the future.

The transaction represents a capital gain, but will not have any material effect on the SAS Group’s earnings in 2005.

For more information, please contact:

Patric Sjöberg, President SAS Trading Telephone: +46 70 997 2506
Michael Brag, Chairman of SAS Trading AB Telephone: +46 70 997 2128
Peter Candell, President Inflight Services Europe AB Telephone: +46 70 674 12 44
Mats Hanzon, Chairman of Inflight Service Europe AB, Telephone: +46 70 579 6677

SAS Group Corporate Communications