SAS Group's July 2013 traffic figures
• SAS Group’s capacity (ASK) was up by 15.1% as capacity
was increased on leisure routes to southern Europe.
• The Group’s traffic (RPK) increased by 12.2%.
• The SAS Group’s load factor decreased by 2.1 p.u. to 83.9%.
• SAS Group carried 2.4 million passengers in July, up 5% vs
last year.
Group market trends, RASK and yield development
One of SAS’ strategic objectives is to create necessary
operational conditions, in terms of costs and flexibility,
to more effectively compete also in the growing leisure market.
SAS major restructuring plan (4XNG) enables SAS customers,
even during holiday periods, to fly with SAS to competitive
prices. The traffic development in July shows that SAS
delivers according to its plan. Traffic growth rates were
particularly strongly on European and intercontinental routes,
derived from an overall capacity increase by approximately
15%.
In line with SAS guidance, currency adjusted yield
(Scandinavian Airlines) in June 2013 was up 2.2% and RASK
was down 0.2% versus previous year. In July 2013 the change
in yield and RASK vs. last year is expected to be negative due
to the increased number of longer leisure routes during the
holiday season.
Overall, the market develops according to SAS expectations.
Despite the fact that the yield environment has been somewhat
more stable in 2013, the SAS Group continues to predict a
negative RASK trend for the full financial year 2012/13.
Throughout the summer, SAS has commenced flights on 32
new routes and in total plans to open 52 new routes during
calendar year 2013. The capacity increase for the financial year
2012/13 is expected to be approximately 5-6%.
SAS Group product and news update
• SAS and Airbus have signed a Memorandum of
Understanding for the order of 8 Airbus A350 and 4 Airbus
A330 Enhanced with deliveries starting in 2015.
• SAS has improved its Fast Track Security access in
Copenhagen, now allowing boarding passes to be validated
only once. Also at Oslo airport, SAS Fast Track Security for
international travel has improved with increased capacity.
• Scandinavian Airlines opened 13 new leisure routes during
July.
Scandinavian Airlines traffic development
• Number of passengers increased 4.9% to 2.1 million.
• Traffic increased by 12.4% and capacity was up 15.3%.
• The load factor was 84.6%, down 2.2 p.u.
Traffic increased according to expectations in July with new
leisure routes strongly contributing to the growth. Traffic on
intercontinental routes increased 11.3%, with the US traffic
demonstrating strong growth rates and increased load factors
vs. the same period last year. The European/ Intrascandinavian
traffic increased 16.5% with strong growth to/from the
Norwegian and Swedish markets of approximately 30%. On
domestic routes, traffic was down 0.4% following reductions on
Finnish domestic routes.
Widerøe traffic development
Widerøe carried 239,000 passengers in July, up 5.1% vs last
year. The growth was driven by a 8.5% capacity increase as a
result of more frequencies on existing routes. The traffic
increased on domestic routes, but was slightly down on
international routes. The overall load factor was down 2.1 p.u.
to 65.0%.
