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SAS Traffic Reports: The SAS Group Traffic Figures March 2009

Dépèche transmise le 7 avril 2009 par Business Wire

STOCKHOLM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:

SAS Group's (STO:SAS)(OSE:SASNOK) March traffic figures

• SAS Group's traffic decreased by 16.7 % during March and seat capacity was down 3.9% vs. 2008.

• SAS Group carried 2.2 million passengers in March, down 9.3% vs. 2008.

• Total passenger load factor in February was down by 9.9 p.u. to 64.5%.

Group market trends and yield development

Yield for Scandinavian Airlines in February was up by 2.6%. For March 2009, the change in yield is expected to be more positive and positively affected by the Easter holiday that affected March 2008 and thus comparable figures. The Easter effect also impact capacity reduction and load factor for March.

The market is characterized by lower demand due to weaker macroeconomic development in Scandinavia and worldwide. The challenges within the credit market will most likely result in an even more difficult macroeconomic environment in SAS Group's core markets. The SAS Group is currently implementing a new strategic approach – Core SAS - to secure a profitable SAS. The strategy includes cost initiatives of approximately SEK 4.0 billion and 18% (ASK) capacity reduction. According to plan 6 more aircraft will be taken out of service as from April..

SAS Scandinavian Airlines

• Total number of passengers reached 1.9 million during March, a decrease by 12,3%.

• Traffic decreased by 17.9% in March

Scandinavian Airlines' traffic during March was affected by the weaker demand and fell 17.9%. The intercontinental traffic was mostly affected and decreased 24.2%. Traffic on European routes decreased by 16.2%, mostly from Denmark following capacity reductions. The intrascandinavian traffic decreased 8.3%. The Swedish domestic traffic decreased partly due to closure of two destinations. The Norwegian domestic traffic grew on southern Norwegian routes, but decreased on the longer northern routes due to Easter occurring in April this year.

Widerøe's traffic development

Widerøe carried 179,000 passengers in March, up by 13.7%. The increase was mainly driven by low passenger numbers last year due to Easter. The overall load factor decreased with 5.1 p.u. to 56,6%.

Blue 1's traffic development

The total number of passengers was 134,000 in February, up by 0.6% vs last year. The total traffic decreased by 6.9% vs last year and the capacity increased by 0,9%. Load factor was down by 4.9 pu. to 58.1%.

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