SAS to reduce prices in Sweden by 6 percent

SAS to reduce prices in Sweden by 6 percent SAS is to reduce its prices for flights within Sweden by 6 percent from January 1, 2001. This reduction is the result of the Swedish Parliament's decision to reduce the rate of VAT on collective passenger transport from 12 to 6 percent. By reducing its prices, SAS is returning the VAT to passengers instead of maintaining current prices. "We are following the Parliament's intention of making collective traffic less expensive and hope that this VAT reduction will have a major impact on the passenger transport sector," says Anders Ehrling, Head of Domestic Travel at SAS. Sweden now has ticket prices that are well on a par with domestic flight prices in the rest of Europe. The parliamentary decision to reduce VAT is a contribution to further increasing interest in air travel, assuming that other carriers reduce their prices. "We believe that price reductions will be of major importance for the private travel market. Private travel has increased in Sweden in the past year and the price reduction will certainly mean that even more people will consider flying as an alternative to more time-consuming travel," Anders Ehrling continues. SAS is reducing all of its price categories, except for standby tickets for young people under the age of 26. These non-bookable tickets (available when there is capacity) can only be purchased from machines at the appropriate airport and will continue to cost SEK 240. "We have chosen not to make further reductions on our standby ticket, since they already have a low price that is unique in the air travel industry," Anders Ehrling explains. Some examples of prices for private travel: Now January 1, 2001 Stockholm-Umeå* Adult 999 946 Accompanying adult 600 570 Child 500 470 Bookable youth fare 760 720 Stockholm-Malmö* Adult 1034 978 Accompanying adult 600 570 Child 500 470 Bookable youth fare 760 720 * SEK, Roundtrip, adult price departure and return on Monday/Tuesday or Wednesday. Overnight stay between Saturday and Sunday. Purchased seven days in advance. For further information, please contact: Anders Ehrling, Head of Domestic Travel, SAS Sweden, Tel: +46-8-797 19 37 Hans W Andersson, Sales Director, SAS Sweden, Tel: +46-8-797 15 44 SAS CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/12/19/20001218BIT01380/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/12/19/20001218BIT01380/bit0002.pdf