• Scheduled traffic (RPK) increased 0.8% and the capacity (ASK) was up 2.7%.
• The load factor decreased by 1.4 p.u. versus last year to 76.2%.
• Scheduled number of passengers amounted to 2.6 million in September
• The preliminary currency adjusted yield increased 1% and the PASK was down 1% in September 2017 vs. last year. The nominal yield was unchanged and the PASK was down 2% in September 2017 vs. last year.
Market development and capacity outlook
After a robust development of the seasonal demand during the summer, demand has shifted back to more business purpose traveling in September. In line with previous months, SAS’s overall load factor declined versus last year, primarily due to larger aircraft.
The competition remains very intensive. After a summer with modest capacity growth in Scandinavia, the market capacity growth is expected to accelerate during the autumn and winter 2017.
In fiscal year 2017/2018, SAS has an indicative plan to increase capacity (ASK) by around 1–3%, driven by longer European routes and the fact that the Airbus A320neo has more seats than the aircraft being replaced.
SAS scheduled traffic development in September
SAS increased its scheduled capacity in September by 2.7% and the traffic grew by 0.8%, resulting in a load factor of 76.2%. This was 1.4 p.u. lower than last year. Compared with previous months the capacity growth declined as SAS now has reached full year effect from previous long haul expansion and the growth on the European routes is lower.
SAS’s intercontinental traffic increased 2.6% and the capacity was up 3.4% versus last year. Going forward, the capacity on long haul routes will decrease slightly as one wet leased Boeing 737 has been phased out.
The traffic on SAS’s European/Intrascandinavian routes increased by 0.6%. This was driven by a 10% increase in traffic on leisure oriented routes in Europe.
On SAS’s domestic routes, the capacity was increased by 3.4%, driven by higher capacity on Swedish and Danish domestic routes. The traffic declined by 3.2%, primarily as an effect from the industrial action in Norway in the beginning of the month.