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The SAS Group traffic figures - November 2003

December 8, 2003 11:00

The SAS Group Traffic figures
November 2003

The SAS Group
· Total passenger traffic (RPK) increased by 0,5% in November vs
2002.
· The SAS Group transported a total of 2,5 million passengers in
November 2003 vs 2,6 million in 2002, a decrease of 4,6%.
· Overall group passenger load factor decreased by 1,1 p.u to 59,0%
for November 2003 vs. 2002.

Market trends and yield development
The traffic development in November showed a small increase, but with
reduced passenger yields across all airlines in the Group. Overall
passenger load factor decreased 1,1 p.u. and passenger traffic increased
by 0,5% during November.
In general, growth has improved slightly on European and
intercontinental routes, but the domestic and Intrascandinavian markets
are still caracterized by weak demand.
Braathens traffic increased in November driven by the positive
development on international routes. Adjusted for a method change
Spanair’s traffic increased in November with improved load but with
reduced yields .

A slightly reduced overall yield decrease was expected for October
compared with earlier months and the outcome showed yields down 10,1%
month by month and 12,4% for the period Jan- Oct. Yields on the European
routes were down approx 18% in October.

The overall yield development in October showed some improvements
compared with previous months, but indications for the last two months
of 2003 shows continued pressure on yields. Price cuts were implemented
in Scandinavia as from October 26 and it will push yields further as
from November by approx. 2-3% vs 2002. The restructuring plan
“Turnaround 2005”, is proceeding according to plan in order to secure a
sustained profitability level in a lower yield environment. Due to the
situation with continued yield pressure, the outlook remains cautious.

Scandinavian Airlines
· Scandinavian Airlines traffic (RPK) decreased by 1,3% in November
2003 compared with 2002.
– Scandinavian Airlines passenger load factor decreased by 1,6 p.u.
to 61,8%
Demand on the long haul routes showed some strenght during November.
Intercontinental traffic in November increased by 0,4% vs 2002 and load
factors improved by 2,9 p.u.
Traffic on the European routes was up 4,5%. Snowflake has its low season
now and showed a load factor slightly below 50%. Intrascandinavian
traffic was characterized by slow demand. Norwegian domestic market has
improved compared with previous months, while demand on Swedish domestic
routes has weakened significantly.

Internet Sales
The proportion of Internet sales on wwww.scandinavian.net was 5,1% in
October 2003 compared with 1,7% in October 2002.
Punctuality
Within 15 minutes 89,8% of flights departed on time and within 2 minutes
66,1% of flights departed on time.

Spanair traffic development
Spanair adjusted to the seasonal variations and reduced the total
capacity slightly in November. The overall ASK decreased by 4,0% and the
RPK with 3,6% compared to last year.

Within the domestic network, capacity has been moved from the Balearic
Islands to the Canary Islands and also to routes within the Iberian
Peninsula. Compared to November last year, the domestic ASK decreased by
1,4% and the RPK by 5,1 %, resulting in a 2,1 p.u. lower load factor.

Generally, the European markets developed slower than the domestic but
through a careful capacity adjustment, Spanair managed to increase the
load factor with 6,3 p.u.. The ASK was 11,1% lower than last year while
the RPK grew with 1,9%. The route between Madrid-Frankfurt expanded from
two to three daily flights in May 2003. Valencia-Munich developed from 1
to 2 daily flights compared to November last year compensating for the
cancellation of Malaga-Munich from the beginning of September. The route
Madrid-Stockholm is temporarily suspended until summer 2004.

Last year “part charter” flights were accounted as schedule, but are not
included in the figures since January 2003. Adjusted for this method
change overall ASK grew by 3,5% compared to last year, RPK grew by 6%
and load factor grew with 1,1 p.u. to 52,6%.

Braathens traffic development:
Braathens scheduled passenger traffic (RPK) showed an overall increase
of 15,5% in November 2003 vs. November 2002 and the number of passengers
increased by 1,0 %. Capacity (ASK) increased by 11,4% and the passenger
load factor increased by 2,0 p.u. to 55,5%.
The Norwegian domestic routes showed a 2,6% decrease in RPK while ASK
increased by 1,1 % in November 2003 vs. November 2002. Domestic
passenger load factor decreased by 2,0 p.u. to 51,9% in November 2003
vs. November 2002. The increase in number of passengers, RPK and ASK on
international routes reflects the opening of new routes on March 30
2003. Passenger load factor on international routes increased by 14,9
p.u. to 66,9% in November 2003 vs. November 2002.

Widerøe’s traffic development
Total number of passengers was reduced by 0.8% in November compared with
last year. However, traffic in RPKs was up by 0.9%, as a result of
increased average distance. With a capacity increase of 0.8%, overall
load factor increased slightly to 52.7%. Load factor on the domestic
sector developed positively, but on the UK market the load factor
declined as traffic did not increase in line with capacity.

Blue 1’s traffic development
Blue1’s total passenger traffic (RPK) increased with 58% compared to
last year and the capacity (ASK) increased with 56%. With a passenger
increase of 52%, Blue1 continued to gain market share.

For further information Please contact
Head of SAS Group Investor Relations Sture Stølen + 46 8 797 1451
sture.stolen@sas.se
Homepage: www.sasgroup.net

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This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net
The following files are available for download:
http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/12/08/20031208BIT00220/wkr0001.doc The full report
http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/12/08/20031208BIT00220/wkr0002.pdf The full report

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