• Scheduled traffic (RPK) decreased 7.1% and the capacity (ASK) was up 0.3%.
• The load factor decreased by 5.1 p.u. versus last year to 63.9%.
• Scheduled number of passengers amounted to 1.8 million in January.
• The preliminary currency adjusted yield increased 6% while the PASK decreased 2% in January 2018 vs. last year. The nominal yield increased 4% and the PASK decreased 3% in January 2018 vs. last year.
Market development
The capacity in the Scandinavian market has accelerated during the autumn and winter 2017/2018 in line with SAS’s expectations.
SAS development during Q1, FY18
The traffic development during Q1 FY18 has been in line with SAS’s expectations and guidance. The yield/PASK development has, however, been better than anticipated. As part of the efforts to balance the production and cost base to the seasonal demand, SAS has decreased the number of flights by 5% during Q1.
Due to last year’s anniversary campaign and the phase-in of larger aircraft, SAS’s overall load factor and traffic volumes have been lower than last year, but on par with FY16. This trend is expected to continue during the winter program 2017/2018. Thereafter, the volumes and load factors are expected to be more in line with FY17.
In fiscal year 2017/2018, SAS plans 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 January
SAS increased its scheduled capacity in January by 0.3% and the traffic decreased by 7.1%, resulting in a load factor of 63.9%, 5.1 p.u. lower than last year. This is driven by last year’s campaign and larger aircraft. The load factor, passenger volumes and traffic (RPK) are all higher than in January 2016.
SAS’s intercontinental capacity decreased by 2.1% and the traffic decreased 11.3%. During the next months, the capacity on SAS’s long-haul routes is planned to decrease slightly as one wet-leased aircraft was phased out in August 2017.
The traffic on SAS’s European/Intrascandinavian routes decreased by 3.8%. At the same time, the capacity increased 2.2%. The traffic had a positive development on European routes to/from Sweden where it grew by 3%.
On SAS’s domestic routes, the capacity increased by 1.3%, which mostly is driven by the new route to the Faroe Islands. The traffic decreased 4.2%, with the largest reduction on Swedish domestic routes.