The SAS Group Traffic figures February 2010

SAS Group’s February 2010 traffic figures
• SAS Group’s traffic (RPK) decreased by 3.1% during February and seat capacity (ASK) was down 10.2% vs. 2009.
• SAS Group carried 1.8 million passengers in February, up 0.3% vs. 2009.
• Passenger load factor was 66.9%, up 5 p.u. vs. February 2009.
• Despite very challenging winter weather conditions in Scandinavia during February, Scandinavian Airlines achieved a regularity of 98.3% and a punctuality of 81.8%.

Group market trends and yield development
The yield for Scandinavian Airlines in January 2010 was down by 14%, however, when measured against ASK (RASK), the decline was approximately 8-9% as the improved load factor partly compensate for the lower yield per RPK. It must be noted that the yield was positive during January/February last year. For February 2010, the change in yield is also expected to be negative. The market continues to be unpredictable and the uncertainty regarding the timing of the recovery is considerable.

The SAS Group is currently implementing its Core SAS strategy. The strategy includes cost reduction initiatives that from February 2010 have been increased by SEK 2.0 bn to a total of SEK 7.3 bn as well as a 20% reduction in capacity. The capacity reductions are almost completed. The implementation of the cost saving initiatives is well on track with remaining result effect of ~SEK 5 bn. In addition, a letter of intent has been agreed with the cabin crew and pilots union to reduce costs by an additional MSEK 500. The ambition is to reach a final agreement shortly.

Scandinavian Airlines
• Total number of passengers was 1.6 million during February, up by 0.5%.
• The traffic decreased by 3.3% and the capacity was down by 10.8%.
• The load factor developed well and increased by 5.2 p.u. to 67.7%.

The intercontinental traffic decreased 5.9% as capacity was reduced by 15.3% resulting in a significantly improved load factor of 7.6 p.u to 76.7%. On European routes, traffic decreased by 5.7%, but the load factor improved by 5.1 p.u. The intrascandinavian traffic increased by 5.3% although capacity was reduced by 6.6% resulting in an improved load factor of 6.9 p.u. The Norwegian domestic traffic was down 0.2%, but as capacity was reduced by 2.1% the load factor improved 1.2 p.u. Traffic on Swedish domestic routes was up 8.9% and the load factor increased by 4.6 p.u.

Widerøe’s traffic development
Widerøe carried 157,000 passengers in February, an increase by 2.1%. The traffic increased by 2% due to growth on the Norwegian domestic routes. The passenger load factor improved by 1.4 p.u to 56.4% and was positive on all geographical segments.

Blue 1’s traffic development
Blue1’s traffic decreased during February by 0.6% but since the capacity was decreased by 6.1%, passenger load factor improved by 3.3 p.u. to 59.7%. The improvement in the load factor was driven by the development on domestic routes and routes within the Nordic region. Due to capacity reductions on shorter routes, number of passengers decreased by 5% over the prior year and was 107,000.