The SAS Group Traffic figures - January 2003

The SAS Group Traffic figures January 2003 The SAS Group · The SAS Group transported a total of 2,2 million passengers in January 2003 vs 2,4 million in 2002, a decrease of 8,9%. · Total traffic (RPK) decreased by 3,5% mainly as a result of reduced capacity (ASK) by 3,9%. · Overall group passenger load factor increased by 0,2 p.u to 55,3% for January 2003 vs. 2002. Market trends and yield development The current macroeconomic environment remains challenging for all airlines in the group. Indications of passenger yield development in January show continued pressure on yields for Scandinavian Airlines as a result of negative mix, campaigns and other market activities. Yield (unit revenues) for December 2002 was down 15% vs December 2001. Currency adjusted the reduction was 12%. It must be noted that the yield is also significantly affected by more capacity on intercontinental routes with lower yields.Yields on the important European routes were down 4-5% in November- December. Accumulated yield from January 2002 - December 2002 was down 4,3% or 4,6% currency adjusted. Passenger load factors for all airlines in the SAS Group have weakened and in order to improve load factors going forward, capacity will be adjusted further in the coming months. Yield development is still weak for Scandinavian Airlines .The overall market outlook remains negative for the coming months as a result of economic slowdown in Scandinavia/ Europe as well as the uncertain geopolitical situation. Scandinavian Airlines · Scandinavian Airlines traffic (RPK) decreased by 5,2% in January 2003 compared with 2002 as a result of reduced capacity by 6,2%. · Scandinavian Airlines passenger load factor increased by 0,6 p.u. to 58,2% Intercontinental traffic increased by 12% in January as a result of weak comparable figures and increased capacity with the introduction of Airbus A330/340. The demand on the European routes continued to be weak and capacity has been adjusted down 9% in January and traffic was down accordingly. Intrascandinavian traffic continued to be weak. Dansish domestic traffic was down manly as a result of the discontinued Greenland route. The Norwegian domestic market continued to be weak, but the Swedish domestic market showed increased passenger load factors as unprofitable routes have been closed down. Spanair traffic development The overall load factor for the scheduled routes in January decreased by 0,3 p.u. vs last year to 51,6%. The Spanish domestic network, showed a significant growth in traffic and capacity. Compared to January last year, the routes from Madrid to Santander and Jerez have been cancelled and the capacity has been moved to more profitable markets. The ASK grew by 11,2% and the RPK increased by 20,1 %, resulting in a load factor increase of 4,1 percentage units. Spanair has strenhtened its market position in the domestic market. In Europe due to the expansion into new and more long-distance routes the ASK increased by more than 50%. Traffic increased by 37,7% Braathens traffic development: Braathens scheduled passenger traffic showed an overall increase in January 2003 of 9,5 % vs. January 2002 and the number of passengers decreased by 8,6 %. Capacity increased by 5,7 % and the passenger load factor increased by 1,6 p.u. to 46,3 %. Changes in the domestic route network as of April 2, 2002 resulted in a 26,3 % increase in RPK and a 21,8 % increase in ASK in January 2003 vs. January 2002 as Braathens operates the longer routes in Norway. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/02/10/20030210BIT00300/wkr0001.doc The full report http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/02/10/20030210BIT00300/wkr0002.pdf The full report