The SAS Group Traffic figures May 2010

SAS Group’s May 2010 traffic figures

· SAS Group’s traffic (RPK) increased by 4% during May while seat capacity (ASK) was down 1.6% vs same period in 2009.
· SAS Group carried 2.3 million passengers in May, an increase by 2.4% vs. same period in 2009.
· The passenger load factor was record high for a May month and reached 75.6%, up 4.1 p.u. vs 2009.  

Group market trends and yield development

The currency adjusted yield for Scandinavian Airlines in April 2010 was down by 6.6%. Due to the negative load factor in April following the closure of the traffic due to the ash cloud, RASK was down by 11.8%. The yield outlook for May indicate yield (change) better or in line with April. The market continues to be unpredictable but signs of recovery are seen in particular on Asian routes, some US routes and selected European routes, however the uncertainty still remains in particular on the yield development going forward. 

The implementation of the Core SAS strategy including cost saving initiatives is on track. 

SAS Group Product and network update

· SAS automated services is a significant service element in irregularity situations. SAS sent almost 300 000 SMS during the ash cloud period.
· To increase simplicity for passengers in accessing SAS popular Fast Track, SAS is introducing a new Self Service lane in Fast Track Security at Stockholm-Arlanda airport.

 Scandinavian Airlines

• Total number of passengers was 2.0 million during May, up 2.4% vs last year.
• The traffic increased by 3% while capacity was down 3.1%
• The load factor increased by 4.5 p.u. to 76.5% also a record high load factor

 The intercontinental traffic grew by 10.9% in May with record high load factor in May of 88.9%. Traffic increased 20% on Asia and by 6% on the USA market. Business Class to/from Asia increased by over 50%. On European routes, the capacity was down by 6.8% which resulted in a decrease in traffic by 2.8%, but with 3 p.u. improved load factor. Traffic on the intrascandinavian routes grew by 7.1% in May combined with improved load factors. Norwegian domestic traffic decreased during May by 2.4%, negatively affected by fierce competition. The Swedish domestic traffic increased 7.2%.

Widerøe and Blue1’s traffic development

Widerøe carried 167,000 passengers in May, down 3.2% vs last year. The negative development was mainly a result of a 3 day closure of the company’s routes to/from UK and 1 day when a large amount of the domestic network was cancelled as a consequence of the ash cloud.

Blue1’s traffic increased by 25.1% during May, particularly driven by strong growth on European routes. The total load factor improved by 2.8 p.u. to 69.5% with strongest performance on Finnish domestic routes. The number of passengers increased by 10.4% to 146,000.For further information Please contact VP,Head of SAS Group Investor Relations Sture Stølen
+ 46 8 797 1451 sture.stolen@sas.se (sture.stolen@sas.se)  Homepage: www.sasgroup.net (https://www.sasgroup.net/)