• During the autumn/winter 2016, SAS’s load factors and volumes were record high following SAS 70 year’s anniversary campaign. This year’s decline in volume, load factor and increased yield reflect a normalization of the traffic volumes.
• Scheduled traffic (RPK) decreased 6.1% and the capacity (ASK) was up 0.9%.
• The load factor decreased by 5.1 p.u. versus last year to 68.6%.
• Scheduled number of passengers amounted to 2.3 million in November.
• The preliminary currency adjusted yield and PASK increased 9% and 1% respectively in November 2017 vs. last year. The nominal yield increased 6% and the PASK decreased 2% in November 2017 vs. last year.
Market development and capacity outlook
The capacity in the Scandinavian market has accelerated during the autumn in line with SAS’s expectations. This development is expected to continue during the winter program 2017/2018. SAS’s overall load factor and traffic volumes declined versus last year at the same time as the yield improved strongly. This is explained by last year’s 70 year’s anniversary campaign, that resulted in record-high volumes and weak yield, combined with the phase-in of larger aircraft in 2017. The traffic volumes in November 2017 and load factor are therefore more in line with the levels prior to 2016. This trend is expected to continue during the winter program 2017/2018.
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 November
SAS increased its scheduled capacity in November by 0.9% and the traffic decreased by 6.1%, resulting in a load factor of 68.6%, 5.1 p.u. lower than last year. This is driven by last year’s campaign and larger aircraft.
SAS’s intercontinental capacity was reduced by 2.6% and the traffic decreased 12.8%. During the next months, the capacity on SAS’s long-haul routes is also planned to decrease as one wet-leased Boeing 737 was phased out in August 2017.
The traffic on SAS’s European/Intrascandinavian routes decreased by 1.5%. At the same time, the capacity was increased 3.5%. The traffic continued to grow on leisure-oriented routes in Europe.
On SAS’s domestic routes, the capacity was increased by 1.3%, driven by higher capacity on Danish domestic routes. The traffic decreased by 2.1%.