The SAS Group Traffic figures May 2008
SAS Group’s May traffic figures
• SAS Group’s traffic increased by 12.5% during May and seat capacity was up by 11.3% vs 2007.
• SAS Group carried 2.9 million passengers in May, up 5.8% vs 2007.
• Total load factor was up 0.7 p.u. to 71.7%.
Group market trends and yield development
Yield for Scandinavian Airlines in April was as expected up 5% positively affected by the “Easter effect”. For May 2008 the change in yield is expected to be negative by approximately 5-6% vs last year partly due to longer stage length. The imposed fuel surcharges will gradually support yield going forward, but had limited effect in May. The market is still characterized by relatively good demand and passenger growth. There are still uncertainties regarding the future macroeconomic development as well as the competitive situation.
The SAS Group is currently implementing measures – Profit 2008 – to secure the result development in 2008 in light of the record high fuel prices. The measures comprises both revenue enhancing and cost measures totaling 1,1 SEK billion. The program is running according to set out plan.
Intercontinental traffic increased by 15.3% in May and the load factor was up 7.5 p.u. SAS Group European traffic increased by 16.5% and load factor was down 0.7 p.u. Widerøe’s traffic increased by 6.4% with increased load factor. airBaltic and Blue1’s traffic increased by 24.3% and 7.4% respectively with load factors close to last year’s levels.