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SAS Traffic Reports: the SAS Group Traffic Figures April 2009

Dépèche transmise le 8 mai 2009 par Business Wire

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

SAS Group's (OSE:SASNOK) (STO:SAS) April traffic figures
• SAS Group's traffic decreased by 18.4 % during April and seat capacity was down 20.6% vs. 2008.
• SAS Group carried 2.2 million passengers in April, down 21.3% vs. 2008.
• Total passenger load factor in April was up by 2.0 p.u. to 72.5%, positively affected by capacity adjustments and Easter effect.

Group market trends and yield development
The yield for Scandinavian Airlines in March was up by 9.2%. For April 2009, the change in yield is expected to be negative due to the Easter holidays. The yield for March and April combined is still expected to be slightly positive.

The market is characterized by lower demand due to weaker macroeconomic development in Scandinavia and worldwide. The market is unpredictable and the uncertainty of the timing of the recovery is considerable. 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 approx. 20% (ASK) capacity reduction. As from April 6 additional aircraft was taken out of traffic improving the balance between supply and demand.

SAS Scandinavian Airlines
• Total number of passengers was 1.9 million during April, a decrease by 22.9%.
• Traffic decreased by 19.4% in April.
• The load factor improved by 2.0 p.u. during April.

Scandinavian Airlines' traffic during April was affected by weaker demand combined with the Easter holiday and was down19.4%. The intercontinental traffic decreased 20.2%. Traffic on European routes decreased by 15.2% primarily due to reductions to/from Norway on southern European routes. The capacity reductions are in line with the Core SAS Strategy. Capacity was mostly decreased on intrascandinavian and domestic routes during Easter resulting in lower traffic volumes. The intrascandinavian traffic decreased 20.2%. The Swedish and Norwegian domestic traffic decreased by 22.1% and 27.5% respectively.

Widerøe's traffic development
Widerøe carried 166.000 passengers in April down 11.2% vs last year. The decrease can be attributed to Easter. The overall load factor increased with 1.6 p.u. as capacity also was cut due to Easter. March and April overall load was stable compared to last year, while capacity was increased with 4% due to introduction of Q400 New generation.

Blue 1's traffic development
The total number of passengers was 139.000 in April down 7.2% vs last year. The volumes were negatively affected by capacity reductions and lower business traffic due to Easter. Overall the reduction in passenger volumes correspond to the reductions made in the available capacity. The passenger load factor was 65.0 % in April up 3,2 p.u. due to the capacity adjustments.

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