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SAS Traffic Reports: The SAS Group Traffic figures July 2009

Dépèche transmise le 7 août 2009 par Business Wire

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

SAS Group's July traffic figures

• SAS Group's traffic decreased by 13.6% during July and seat capacity was down 17.3% vs. 2008.

• SAS Group carried 2.0 million passengers in July, down 14.1 % vs. 2008.

• Total passenger load factor in June was 83.8%, up 3.6 p.u. vs. July 2008.

Group market trends and yield development The yield for Scandinavian Airlines in June was down by 7.6%, putting pressure on the revenues for Q2. For July 2009, the change in yield is expected to be slightly less negative than May/June. The summer leisure traffic overall developed well which helped to improve the load factor with 3.6 p.u. The higher jet fuel prices in combination with the weak demand adds further challenges to the industry and requires actions in order to mitigate the negative earnings’ impact. To address the unprecedented challenges, SAS management and Board evaluates further measures to reduce cost and improve the efficiency. The market continues to be unpredictable and the uncertainty regarding the timing of the recovery is considerable.

The SAS Group is implementing a new strategic approach – Core SAS - to secure a future profitable SAS. The strategy includes cost initiatives of approximately SEK 4 bn and approx 20% (ASK) capacity reduction. The implementation is well on track. SAS has indicated that restructuring costs will increase compared with guidance in February and reach approximately SEK 1 bn during Q2, due to earlier phase out of aircraft, higher early retirement ratio than expected and redelivery costs of leased aircraft. The estimate for the full year restructuring costs will be published in connection with the Q2 results on 12 August 2009 at 08.00 am (CET).

SAS Scandinavian Airlines

• Total number of passengers was 1.7 million during July, down by 16.1%.

• The traffic decreased by 15.3% and the capacity was down by 19.0%.

• The July load factor increased to a record of 84.5%.

Scandinavian Airlines continued to adjust seat capacity to the lower demand as well as the seasonally lower demand during July. The intercontinental traffic decreased 14.7% and the load factor decreased 2.1 p.u. to 88.2%. The Asian traffic decreased more than the USA traffic . Traffic on European routes decreased by 16.2% as some leisure routes to southern Europe have been closed, but the load factor improved by a strong 5.9 p.u. The intrascandinavian traffic decreased 13.4% and the capacity was reduced by 24.9% resulting in a strong improvement in the load factor. The Swedish and Norwegian domestic traffic decreased by 12.5% and 13.7% respectively, with improved load factors.

Widerøe's traffic development Widerøe carried 166,000 passengers in July, up 7.8% vs last year. The increase was strongest on the company's Norwegian routes due to capacity increase and a successful marketing campaign. The overall load factor increased with 6.9 p.u. compared to last year.

Blue 1's traffic development Total passenger volumes were 7.4% lower than last year due to capacity reductions on domestic and Scandinavian routes. The total traffic increased by 12.1% and the load factor increased by 2.3 p.u. to 82.6% as a result of good demand on European leisure routes.

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