The SAS Group Traffic figures August 2013

SAS Group's August 2013 traffic figures

• SAS Group’s capacity (ASK) was up by 11.7% as capacity was increased on leisure routes to southern Europe.
• The Group’s traffic (RPK) increased by 10.3%.
• The SAS Group’s load factor decreased by 1.0 p.u. to 77.8%.
• SAS Group carried 2.4 million passengers in August, up 3.3% 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 August shows that SAS delivers according to its plan with traffic growth rates particularly strong on European and intercontinental routes.

In line with SAS guidance, currency adjusted yield (Scandinavian Airlines) in July 2013 was down 1.6% and RASK was down 8,2% versus previous year. In August 2013, the change in yield and RASK vs. last year is also 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. The capacity increase for the financial year 2012/13 is expected to be approximately 5-6%.