SAS traffic figures - March 2017
• Scheduled traffic (RPK) increased 9.7% and the capacity (ASK) was up 12.2%.
• The load factor was affected by the timing of the Easter holiday and decreased by 1.6 p.u. versus last year to 69.8%.
• SAS carried 2.5 million scheduled passengers in March, up 8.9% vs. last year.
• The preliminary currency adjusted yield and PASK were down 3% and 5% in March 2017. The nominal yield was unchanged and the nominal PASK was down 2%.
Market development
Although the demand is growing, the operating environment is more challenging, with the yield at historically low levels. In addition, jet fuel prices have increased versus last year combined with an unfavorable USD development versus the SEK. In March the traffic development is affected by the different timing of Easter, resulting in higher capacity and passenger volumes, particularly within Scandinavia.
In fiscal year 2016/2017, SAS’s total capacity growth (ASK) will amount to 6-8%. The growth will primarily be driven by a full-year effect from the new intercontinental routes that commenced during 2015/2016, increased production on European leisure routes and the fact that the Airbus A320neo is larger than the aircraft it will replace. The number of flights is expected to increase by about 2%.
SAS scheduled traffic development in March
SAS increased its scheduled capacity in March by 12.2% and the traffic grew by 9.7%. The overall load factor was down 1.6 p.u. versus last year to 69.8%. This was mainly due to the different timing of the Easter versus last year, which affected the load factor negatively on domestic and intercontinental routes.
SAS intercontinental traffic increased 12.8% and the capacity was up 17.2%. The growth was driven by the new routes to/from Los Angeles and Miami as well as larger traffic volumes on existing Asian routes.
The traffic on the European/Intrascandinavian routes increased by 6.4%. Compared to last year, the growth in March was stronger on business oriented routes.
On domestic routes, the capacity was increased by 17.1% and the traffic was up by 11.7%.