SAS Trafikktall april 2011

[FlightDeck]

SAS har lagt frem trafikktall for april.

SAS Group's April 2011 traffic figures
• SAS Group's traffic (RPK) increased by 35.3% during April and capacity (ASK) increased 26.7% vs same period 2010, both affected by the ash cloud in April 2010.
• The passenger load factor increased by 4.7 p.u. to 74.4%.
• SAS Group carried 2.2 million passengers in April, up 44.1%

Group market trends, RASK and yield development
During March 2011, currency adjusted RASK was down 3.4% and yield was down 0.1%, in line with guidance. The improvement in yield compared with previous months reflects a positive mix, especially on the new added capacity. For April 2011, passenger yield (change vs last year) is expected to be in line with March, but due to improvement in the load factor in April as a result of ash cloud effects, RASK (change) is expected to be even higher
The market remains unpredictable, particularly RASK development due to overcapacity in certain markets and rising jet fuel prices. Scandinavian Airlines is continuously improving its customer offering and improvements in customer satisfaction have been achieved. The implementation of the cost saving program is on track.
The SAS Group will announce its 1st interim report for 2011 on 10 May at 08.00 a.m. CET.

SAS Group product and news update
• EuroBonus was named winner in the category Best Airline Redemption Ability for Europe/Africa at the Frequent Traveler Award Gala in New York during April.
• SAS signs new code share with ANA in Japan.

Scandinavian Airlines’ traffic development
• Number of passengers increased by 40.3% to 1.9 million.
• Traffic increased 33.1% and capacity was up 24.1%.
• The load factor was up 5.1 p.u. to 75.5%.

The intercontinental traffic was up by 17.2% in April and capacity increased by 21.8%. The traffic on Asian routes grew apart from the traffic to/from Japan that was affected by the devastating earthquake in March. Traffic on North Atlantic routes improved and showed a positive load factor development. On European routes, traffic was up 43%. Intrascandinavian traffic increased by 45.2% and capacity increased by 31.2%. Danish domestic traffic increased 16.7%. Norwegian and Swedish domestic traffic increased 38.3% and 56.1% respectively with strong improvement in load factors.

Widerøe and Blue1’s traffic development
Widerøe carried 196,000 passengers in April, up 57.3%, increasing strongly on Norwegian domestic routes. The total capacity increased with 45.4% compared to last year. The growth in capacity and number of passengers was mainly driven by weak comparable numbers due to the ash cloud and Widerøe taking over Scandinavian Airlines' Fokker 50 routes in western Norway. The overall load factor was up 6 p.u. to 60.5%.
Blue1’s traffic increased strongly by 61.8% during April and number of passengers was up by 81%. The growth was strongest on Finnish domestic and European routes due to new premium product, destinations and frequencies. The total load factor increased 2.1 p.u. to 66.6%.

http://feed.ne.cision.com/wpyfs/00/0...5C/wkr0001.pdf

Pressemelding:

SAS trafik ökade med 35% under april

SAS koncernen transporterade 2,2 miljoner passagerare under april, en ökning med 44,1%. Trafikökningen förklaras främst av askmolnseffekten föregående år. Kabinfaktorn ökade under månaden med 4,7 procentenheter till 74,4%.

SAS koncernen fortsatte under april att öka kapaciteten i enlighet med strategin att växa i nivå med marknaden. Kapacitetsökningen under april var 26,7 huvudsakligen på grund av askmolnseffekten. Den största kapacitetsökningen var till/från den svenska marknaden. Blue1 och Wideröe uppvisade också en kraftig tillväxt. Scandinavian Airlines växte framför allt på trafiken till/från Sverige och Norge. Den interkontinentala trafiken ökade mer än kapacitetstillväxten, med undantag av linjen Köpenhamn-Tokyo.

Punktligheten uppgick under april till 87,9% i kombination med en regularitet på 98,0%.

- Som förväntat var trafiktillväxten kraftig under april. På grund av de svaga jämförelsenivåerna från förra året då luftrummet delvis stängdes går det inte att dra några slutsatser från trafikutvecklingen under april. Det är dock tillfredsställande att se att kabinfaktorn fortsatt är relativt hög vilket tyder på att vi har en attraktiv produkt i marknaden, säger Rickard Gustafson, SAS VD och koncernchef.

Enhetsintäkten, RASK, som rapporteras med en månads fördröjning, sjönk under mars med 3,4%, och yielden var 0,1% lägre. RASK för april förväntas bli positiv och yielden förväntas bli i nivå med mars.

SAS koncernens trafiktal publiceras kl 11 den femte arbetsdagen följande månad. Intäktsmått (RASK och Yield) publiceras preliminärt för månaden och med utfallet en månad senare. För detaljerad information om SAS koncernens trafikutveckling hänvisas till www.sasgroup.net (http://www.sasgroup.net/)

För ytterligare information, vänligen kontakta:

Sture Stølen, VP Head of SAS Group Investor Relations +46 8 797 1451