The SAS Group Traffic figures October 2009
SAS Group’s October traffic figures
• SAS Group’s traffic decreased by 13.5% during October and seat capacity was down 18.6% vs. 2008.
• SAS Group carried 2.3 million passengers in October, down 11.1% vs. 2008.
• Total passenger load factor in October was 74.3%, up 4.3 p.u. vs. October 2008.
Group market trends and yield development
The yield for Scandinavian Airlines in September was down by 9.4 %. For October 2009, the change in yield is also expected to be negative indicating continued yield pressure going forward. This development will have a significant negative impact regarding the full year result. The market continues to be unpredictable and the uncertainty regarding the timing of the recovery is considerable.
The SAS Group is currently implementing a new strategic approach – Core SAS – to secure a future profitable SAS. The strategy includes cost reduction initiatives of SEK 4.5 bn as well as a 20% reduction in capacity. The implementation is well on track. An additional SEK 2.0 bn cost savings program was initiated in August 2009, of which SEK 0.8 bn is being implemented to date. This makes SAS Group’s total cost reductions amount to SEK 5.3 bn. The management and Board of the SAS Group are working continuously to identify further cost-saving measures.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines
• Total number of passengers was 2.0 million during October, down by 12.3%.
• The traffic decreased by 14.6% and the capacity was down by 20.1%.
• The October load factor increased by 4.8 p.u. to 75.4%.
The intercontinental traffic decreased 18.0%, but the capacity was down by 21.8% resulting in an improved load factor of 4.1 p.u. Traffic on European routes decreased by 14.6%, but the load factor improved by 7.5 p.u. with the strongest improvements recorded on routes to/from Norway and Sweden. The intrascandinavian traffic decreased 11.3% and the capacity was reduced by 17.7%. The Norwegian domestic domestic traffic decreased by 6.7% but the load factor improved by 5 p.u. On Swedish domestic routes, traffic was down 14% and the capacity down 7.6% resulting in a 4.6 p.u lower load factor.
Widerøe’s traffic development
Widerøe carried 192,000 passengers in October, up 1.3% vs last year. Capacity was down by 1%, but the overall load factor increased by 1,5 p.u. to 62.4%. In order to meet a shift in demand, capacity on the Norwegian domestic routes was up by 6.3%, but was decreased by 13.1% on the Intrascandinavian routes and by 17.2% on the European routes.
Blue 1’s traffic development
Total number of passengers in October was 134,000, down 8% vs last year. Total capacity remained on the same level as previous year, but traffic increased by 1.9%, resulting in an improved passenger load factor of 1 p.u. to 65.0%. The load factor development was particularly positive on the domestic routes.For further information Please contact VP,Head of SAS Group Investor Relations Sture Stølen
+ 46 8 797 1451 sture.stolen@sas.se Homepage: www.sasgroup.net
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