The SAS Group Traffic figures March 2010

The SAS Group Traffic figures March 2010




SAS Group's March 2010 traffic figures 
• SAS Group's traffic (RPK) increased by 3.4% during March and seat capacity
(ASK) was down 8.8% vs same period in 2009.
• SAS Group carried 2.2 million passengers in March, up 2.1% vs. same period in
2009. 
• Passenger load factor was 73.1%, up 8.6 p.u. vs. March 2009.

Group market trends and yield development 
The currency adjusted yield for Scandinavian Airlines in February 2010 was down
by 10.5% and RASK was down 0.7% due to the improvement of the load factor. It
should however be noted that the yield was positive during last year mainly due
to higher fuel surcharges imposed in early 2009. For March 2010, the change in
yield is also expected to be negative. The market continues to be unpredictable
and the uncertainty regarding the timing of a recovery is considerable.

The SAS Group is currently implementing its Core SAS strategy. The total cost
savings program now totals SEK 7.8 bn in addition to a 20% reduction in capacity
(of which 18% reduction is implemented). The implementation of the cost saving
initiatives is well on track with remaining result effect of ~SEK 5.2 bn.
 
Scandinavian Airlines 
• Total number of passengers was 1.9 million during March, up by 2.2%.
• The traffic increased by 2.9% despite that the capacity was down by 9.5%.
• The load factor developed strongly and increased by 9.0 p.u. to 74.1%.

The intercontinental traffic increased 6.2% despite that capacity was reduced by
9.2% resulting in a significantly improved load factor of 12.5 p.u to 86.3%. On
European routes,  traffic increased by 0.5% and load factor improved by 8.3 p.u.
to 70.3%. While intrascandinavian capacity was decreased by 7.5%, traffic grew
7% withsignificantly improved load factors on most routes. The Norwegian
domestic traffic was down 2.7%, but as capacity was reduced by 8.9% the load
factor improved 4.2 p.u. Traffic on Swedish domestic routes was up 9.3% and the
load factor increased by 8 p.u. to 70.9%.

Widerøe's traffic development
Widerøe carried 179,000 passengers in March, marginally down by 0.3%. The
decrease is explained by 1.6% lower passenger volumes on Widerøe's domestic
routes due to the Easter holiday in March 2010, while the whole Easter in
2009was in April. The total capacity was accordingly reduced by 3.4% resulting
in an improved load factor of 3 p.u. to 59.6%.

Blue 1's traffic development  
Blue1's traffic increased during March by 13.2% and total capacity was up 0.8%,
resulting in an improvement of the load factor of 7.2 p.u. Compared with last
year, Blue1 reduced the domestic capacity by 27% due to discontinuation of daily
frequencies on one route, the use of smaller aircraft on seasonal destinations
and optimatization of capacity on other routes. As a result, the load factor
improved by a strong 11.9 p.u. to 64.9%. The international capacity increase of
12% was well received  by the market and the traffic increased by 22%.

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