Scandinavian Airlines-SAS made this announcement:

In September SAS carried 0.6 million passengers and reports a capacity reduction of 73% compared to the same period last year.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact SAS’ traffic negatively. In September, the total number of passengers ended at 0.6 million, a decrease by 2.3 million, and total capacity was down by 72.7% compared to the same period last year. Demand for domestic travel continues be stronger than for European and Intercontinental traffic and SAS has adapted its network accordingly.

“Since March, when nearly all traffic was halted, we have slowly started to rebuild our network. Today SAS operates up to 380 daily flights servicing 75 destinations and I am pleased that we now have resumed our presence at mainland China after 9 months interruption. Overall demand is heavily dependent on imposed travel restrictions. In September more countries were unfortunately classified as “red”, reducing the number of passengers somewhat versus August. However, in the last six months we have seen a slow but steady recovery in demand, and in September SAS reports half a million additional passengers than in April. Looking ahead, we continue to monitor the market development and stand ready to make further adjustments in accordance with how demand evolves,” says Rickard Gustafson, CEO SAS.

SAS scheduled traffic	Sep20	Change1	Nov19-Sep20	Change1
ASK (Mill.)	1 254	-71.3%	21 132	-52.0%
RPK (Mill.)	448	-86.7%	12 802	-60.6%
Passenger load factor	35.8%	-41.5 p u	60.6%	-13.2 p u
No. of passengers (000)	595	-78.6%	11 723	-54.4%

Geographical development, schedule	Sep20            vs.          Sep19		Nov19-Sep20     vs.    Nov18-Sep19
	RPK	ASK	RPK	ASK
Intercontinental	-97.3%	-84.7%	-66.8%	-57.7%
Europe/Intrascandinavia	-88.6%	-74.9%	-62.5%	-55.5%
Domestic	-56.9%	-37.3%	-40.9%	-30.6%

SAS charter traffic	Sep20	Change1	Nov19-Sep20	Change1
ASK (Mill.)	58	-86.6%	979	-72.9%
RPK (Mill.)	46	-88.6%	843	-74.3%
Load factor	79.2%	-13.9 p u	86.1%	-4.7 p u
No. of passengers (000)	20	-87.5%	285	-76.6%

SAS total traffic (scheduled and charter)	Sep20	Change1	Nov19-Sep20	Change1
ASK (Mill.)	1 312	-72.7%	22 111	-53.6%
RPK (Mill.)	494	-86.9%	13 646	-61.9%
Load factor	37.7%	-41.0 p u	61.7%	-13.4 p u
No. of passengers (000)	614	-79.1%	12 008	-55.4%

¹ Change compared to same period last year. p u = percentage units

Preliminary yield and PASK	Sep20	Nominal change	FX adjusted change
Yield, SEK	1.25	19.0%	26.1%
PASK, SEK	0.45	-44.9%	-41.7%
			Sep20
Punctuality (arrival 15 min)			96.2%
Regularity			99.4%
Change in total CO2 emissions, rolling 12 months			-50.3%
Change in CO2 emissions per available seat kilometer			-4.5%
Carbon offsetting of passenger related emissions			37%

Definitions:

RPK – Revenue passenger kilometers
ASK – Available seat kilometers
Load factor – RPK/ASK
Yield – Passenger revenues/RPK (scheduled)
PASK – Passenger revenues/ASK (scheduled)
Change in CO₂ emissions per available seat kilometers – SAS passenger related carbon emissions divided with total available seat kilometers (incl. non-revenue and EuroBonus), rolling 12 months
Carbon offsetting of passenger related emissions – Share of SAS passenger related carbon emissions compensated by SAS (EuroBonus members, youth tickets and SAS’ staff travel)

From fiscal year 2020 we report change in CO₂ emissions in total and per Available Seat Kilometers (ASK) to align with our overall goal to reduce our total CO₂ emissions by 25% by 2025, compared to 2005.

Scandinavian Airlines-SAS has made this announcement:

From September 29, 2020, it will once again be possible to fly direct from Scandinavia to China with SAS. There have been no direct flights since January 31, 2020, but SAS has now obtained approval from the Chinese authorities and is reopening the route from Copenhagen to Shanghai with a weekly frequency.

The reopening of the route is vital for trade. With the reopening of the route, SAS is aiming to meet demand for business travel and air freight services between Scandinavia and China.

At the end of October, SAS is also planning to resume flights to Beijing provided that SAS obtains the necessary approval from the authorities.

SAS will operate the Shanghai route using the new Airbus A350-900. This state-of-the-art aircraft will enable SAS to offer a unique travel experience. The aircraft has a much lower fuel consumption and up to 30 percent lower CO2 emissions than previous comparable aircraft.

SAS is currently flying to 75 destinations and operates up to 380 flights a day. SAS is monitoring market developments on a weekly basis and is ready to step up its services when travel restrictions are eased and demand for travel increases again.

As there is still uncertainty regarding restrictions and there are changes in travel advice, SAS offers travellers the option to change a planned journey/ticket for a SAS Travel Voucher, up to 16 days prior to departure, for all international travel, until January 15.

SAS aircraft photo gallery:

Scandinavian Airlines-SAS issued this report:

Total number of passengers and capacity in August decreased by 74% and 73% respectively, versus the same period last year. However, August also recorded a small increase of 12 000 passengers compared to July this year.

SAS’ traffic continues to be negatively impacted by COVID-19. In August, total capacity was down by 73.4% compared to the same period last year and number of passengers decreased by 2.1 million. Demand has recovered somewhat better within Scandinavia than in other parts of our network and SAS has deployed its capacity accordingly.

“During fall we aim to increase the number of flights and re-open more routes, in line with the re-bounce in demand. Primarily we’ll resume domestic traffic in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, but also re-open 18 routes to key European destinations. Furthermore, we aim to resume flights to Asia and once again offer flights across all three continents where we normally operate,” says Rickard Gustafson, CEO SAS.

Scandinavian Airlines-SAS has made this announcement:

Throughout autumn, SAS will continue to increase the number of flights and open routes to more destinations in Europe, USA and Asia to meet the demand for travel and transport to, from and within Scandinavia.

SAS’ domestic flights in Sweden, Norway and Denmark will cover almost the entire domestic network when SAS resumes its flights from Stavanger to Trondheim and from Stockholm to Ronneby and Sundsvall. With its expanded flight programme, within and between the three countries, SAS will increase the availability of essential travel and transport, thereby ensuring critical infrastructure.

To meet the demand also for business travel to Europe, SAS is increasing the number of flights and adding 18 routes to key European markets and capitals, such as from Copenhagen to Paris, from Stockholm to Frankfurt and from Oslo to Brussels.

At the end of September, SAS plans* to start up its intercontinental flights to Asia and fly from Copenhagen to Shanghai once a week.

This means that SAS will be able to offer flights again in the autumn across the whole network on all three continents on which SAS operates.

SAS is also increasing the number of flights to New York from Copenhagen up to daily departures. We will also resume flights from Copenhagen to Washington, with two flights a week from mid-September and maintain an unchanged number of flights to Chicago and San Francisco.

As there is still uncertainty regarding restrictions and there are changes in travel advice, SAS offers travelers the option to change a planned journey/ticket for a SAS Travel Voucher, up to 16 days prior to departure, for all international travel, until January 15.

*Subject to government approval.

Scandinavian Airlines-SAS issued this report for the last quarter:

MAY 2020–JULY 2020

• Revenue: MSEK 2,507 (13,401)
• Income before tax (EBT): MSEK -2,071 (1,490)
• Income before tax and items affecting comparability: MSEK -784 (1,495)
• Net income for the period: MSEK -2,365 (1,162)
• Earnings per common share: SEK -6.18 (3.04)

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS DURING THE QUARTER

• SAS signs a SEK 3.3bn revolving credit facility agreement
• SAS presents a revised business plan including measures to tackle the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and revised sustainability goals
• SAS presents a recapitalization plan to remedy the liquidity shortage and the negative equity caused by the COVID-19 outbreak

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AFTER QUARTER END

• SAS presents a revised recapitalization plan supported by shareholders representing 35.6% of shares and the noteholders committee. The plan is also approved by the European Commission

NOVEMBER 2019–JULY 2020

• Revenue: MSEK 17,478 (32,677)
• Income before tax (EBT): MSEK -6,880 (-302)
• Income before tax and items affecting comparability: MSEK -5,576 (-440)
• Net income for the period: MSEK -6,696 (-240)
• Earnings per common share: SEK -17.66 (-0.65)

CONTINUED NEGATIVE IMPACT OF COVID-19

We are encouraged to see that demand is slowly returning as we continue to ramp-up our operations. So far, the demand for air travel has developed in line with our expectations, with domestic traffic leading the way. Simultaneously we are making good progress in adapting our cost structure to a market defined by lower demand. Although there are significant challenges ahead, I am confident that SAS will return as a sustainable and profitable airline following a successful implementation of the recapitalization plan. Aviation fulfils a vital part of Scandinavia’s infrastructure, and is important to enable connectivity to the rest of the world as demand returns.

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

The coronavirus and travelling restrictions has led to a collapse in the demand for air travel. Consequently, the number of passengers traveling with SAS dropped 86% and total revenue decreased 81% in the quarter. Domestic travel has rebounded more quickly than other parts of our business and accounts for most of our quarterly revenue.

Despite our immediate measures to reduce costs to adapt to a new reality, the cost reduction of 67% did not offset the sharp decline in revenue. As a result, earnings before tax came in at SEK -2.1 billion, some SEK 3.6 billion below last year. The result was positively impacted by SEK 840 million from a strengthening of the Swedish krona, primarily against the US dollar. However, in line with other airlines, the negative development in aircraft valuations necessitated a SEK 1,040 million write down of some aircraft assets.

Our focus on preserving cash is evident through a monthly operating cash burn of SEK 320 million. This is of course significantly worse than last year but below the range we presented in the second quarter, and we will continue to monitor cash burn as we slowly continue to ramp-up operations. At the end of the third quarter our cash position was SEK 6.2 billion, which includes the SEK 3.3 billion drawn under the credit facility guaranteed by the Danish and Swedish states.

CUSTOMER DEMAND SLOWLY INCREASING

Demand continues to return slowly and in line with the estimated ramp-up plan we presented in the second quarter. In the quarter, demand was centered around domestic travel and attractive European summer destinations. In July, SAS operated 8,700 departures representing some 25% of prior year available seat kilometers. This is an increase of some 20 percentage points compared to the first month of this quarter. During the fourth quarter, we will continue to ramp-up production and we expect to reach 30% -40% of prior year available seat kilometers by the end of Q4.

Despite the slow but ongoing recovery as noted in our traffic figures, demand going forward remains uncertain and is heavily dependent on the easing of travel restrictions as well as passenger confidence and willingness to travel. Furthermore, it is difficult to predict how demand will evolve during the coming fall and winter due to changed customer behavior with bookings being made closer to the date of travel. Our current expectation is that the ramp-up phase for the airline industry may last until 2022 before demand can reach more normalized levels, with a return to pre COVID-19 levels a few years thereafter.

PROGRESS ON REVISED BUSINESS PLAN

SAS continues to make progress with its revised business plan, which is based on four building blocks: To be the preferred airline for Scandinavia’s frequent travelers; to transition to a hyper modern single-type fleet; to establish a fully competitive operating model, and; to achieve global leadership in sustainable aviation. During the quarter several milestones were reached.

Almost 4,000 redundancies (of approximately 5,000 in total) have now been concluded and local employment agreements are being renegotiated. In July, we signed an agreement to outsource ground handling operations in both Gothenburg and Malmö, concentrating our operations to the three main hubs in Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm. Even though the initiatives regarding our work force are difficult and unfortunate, these measures are unavoidable and necessary to safeguard SAS for the future.

Through constructive dialogue with Airbus, we have managed to defer 8 A320neo and 2 A350-900 aircraft deliveries. These deferrals are important as they reduce our capital expenditures for 2021–2024 and better align deliveries of new aircraft with the expected return in demand. We are still committed to achieving a single-type fleet operation by 2023, based on new Airbus aircraft that will provide lower fuel consumption and reduced maintenance costs compared with our current fleet composition. Furthermore, we have made progress on our ambitious sustainability goals by accelerating the phase out of older and less fuel-efficient aircraft. We have also renegotiated agreements with several suppliers, including wet-lease providers. The new agreements will lead to lower costs and increased flexibility, through a higher share of variable costs going forward.

We have introduced new procedures to ensure that our customers experience the safest travel experience possible and continue to provide an attractive timetable for travelers to, from and within Scandinavia. At the same time, we regret that many customers are still waiting for refunds from canceled flights. I would like to emphasize that our customers that are entitled to refunds will be refunded, and we have increased our capacity to handle the large number of cancellations in these unprecedented circumstances.

PROGRESS ON RECAPITALIZATION PLAN 

Despite our own efforts, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a need to remedy the liquidity situation and the negative equity caused by the outbreak. During the quarter SAS reached an agreement in principle with the noteholders committee representing a large proportion of the holders of SAS bonds and hybrid notes. Furthermore, the governments of Denmark and Sweden have now approved the revised recapitalization plan, which has also been approved by the European Commission under applicable State aid rules framework.

The next steps of the plan are to obtain a vote in favor of the offer from the bond and hybrid holders at the noteholders meeting on September 2, and a vote in favor of the recapitalization plan at the extraordinary shareholders’ meeting scheduled for September 22. The entire revised Recapitalization plan is expected to be completed early November.

SAS plays a vital role in connecting the Scandinavian countries to the rest of the world, as well as being an important infrastructure provider within the region. By focusing on rebuilding our domestic and intra-Scandinavian presence, we have been able to increase capacity ahead of competition. I am grateful that our major shareholders have decided to support SAS and trust that others will do the same in these unprecedented times.  SAS is determined to continue as Scandinavia’s leading airline as the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

On behalf of all of us at SAS, I’m looking forward to once again welcoming you onboard on one of our flights soon!

Rickard Gustafson,

President and CEO

Stockholm, 25 August 2020

Scandinavian Airlines-SAS has released its traffic figures for July 2020:

SAS Traffic figures – July 2020

SAS capacity was down by 76% and total number of passengers were 75% lower compared to same period last year. Number of passengers remains low due to limited demand in the light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

SAS continues to resume flights to its destinations as demand returns and travel restrictions are easing. Compared to June, the number of passengers increased by nearly 300 thousand but showed a decrease of 2.5 million compared to same period last year. Domestic routes are showing the strongest recovery, whereas demand for Intercontinental and European travel remains weak.

“We continue to note a slow recovery of demand, in line with our expectations. As demand slowly returns, we are pleased to gradually ramp up our operations while ensuring a safe travel experience for our customers and employees,” says Rickard Gustafson, CEO SAS.

SAS scheduled traffic	Jul20	Change1	Nov19-Jul20	Change1
ASK (Mill.)	1 308	-73.5%	18 575	-47.2%
RPK (Mill.)	662	-83.9%	11 746	-54.1%
Passenger load factor	50.6%	-32.6 p u	63.2%	-9.6 p u
No. of passengers (000)	699	-73.0%	10,429	-48.8%

Geographical development, schedule	Jul20            vs.           Jul19		Nov19-Jul20     vs.    Nov18-Jul19
	RPK	ASK	RPK	ASK
Intercontinental	-97.4%	-87.1%	-58.6%	-50.6%
Europe/Intrascandinavia	-84.7%	-77.0%	-56.3%	-50.9%
Domestic	-39.0%	-16.0%	-37.7%	-29.7%

SAS charter traffic	Jul20	Change1	Nov19-Jul20	Change1
ASK (Mill.)	18	-97.4%	867	-66.5%
RPK (Mill.)	14	-97.8%	754	-68.0%
Load factor	81.9%	-12.5 p u	87.0%	-3.9 p u
No. of passengers (000)	6	-97.7%	248	-71.0%

SAS total traffic (scheduled and charter)	Jul20	Change1	Nov19-Jul20	Change1
ASK (Mill.)	1 326	-76.4%	19 442	-48.5%
RPK (Mill.)	676	-85.8%	12 500	-55.3%
Load factor	51.0%	-33.6 p u	64.3%	-9.8 p u
No. of passengers (000)	705	-75.2%	10,676	-49.7%

¹ Change compared to same period last year. p u = percentage units

Preliminary yield and PASK	Jul20	Nominal change	FX adjusted change
Yield, SEK	1.10	27.6%	32.3%
PASK, SEK	0.56	-22.5%	-19,6%
			Jul20
Punctuality (arrival 15 min)			95.7%
Regularity			99.4%
Change in total CO2 emissions, rolling 12 months			-36.1%
Change in CO2 emissions per available seat kilometer			-3.5%
Carbon offsetting of passenger related emissions			39%

Definitions:

RPK – Revenue passenger kilometers
ASK – Available seat kilometers
Load factor – RPK/ASK
Yield – Passenger revenues/RPK (scheduled)
PASK – Passenger revenues/ASK (scheduled)
Change in CO₂ emissions per available seat kilometers – SAS passenger related carbon emissions divided with total available seat kilometers (incl. non-revenue and EuroBonus), rolling 12 months
Carbon offsetting of passenger related emissions – Share of SAS passenger related carbon emissions compensated by SAS (EuroBonus members, youth tickets and SAS’ staff travel)
From fiscal year 2020 we report change in CO₂ emissions in total and per Available Seat Kilometers (ASK) to align with our overall goal to reduce our total CO₂ emissions by 25% by 2025, compared to 2005.

Scandinavian Airlines-SAS released its traffic figures for June 2020.

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the total number of passengers was 86% lower compared to last year. From mid-June, SAS doubled its capacity to 30 aircraft and an additional 15 aircraft have returned to service in July.

SAS has increased its capacity and number of passengers as countries are gradually opening up. Compared to last month capacity has increased by 251 million available seat kilometers (ASK) and the number of passengers has increased by 269 thousand. In relation to last year SAS experienced a 91% reduction in capacity and an 86% drop in the total number of passengers.

“We are pleased to welcome more passengers onboard as we slowly start to rebuild our network and increase the connectivity to, from and within Scandinavia,” says Rickard Gustafson, CEO SAS.

SAS scheduled traffic	Jun20	Change1	Nov19-Jun20	Change1
ASK (Mill.)	426	-90.1%	17 266	-42.9%
RPK (Mill.)	223	-93.6%	11 084	-48.4%
Passenger load factor	52.4%	-29.1 p u	64.2%	-6.9 p u
No. of passengers (000)	328	-88.1%	9,729	-45.3%

Geographical development, schedule	Jun20            vs.           Jun19		Nov19-Jun20     vs.    Nov18-Jun19
	RPK	ASK	RPK	ASK
Intercontinental	-99.1%	-97.2%	-52.3%	-45.4%
Europe/Intrascandinavia	-96.3%	-93.5%	-49.4%	-45.6%
Domestic	-72.1%	-64.6%	-37.6%	-31.1%

SAS charter traffic	Jun20	Change1	Nov19-Jun20	Change1
ASK (Mill.)	2	-99.7%	850	-55.4%
RPK (Mill.)	1	-99.9%	740	-56.7%
Load factor	35.3%	-55.3 p u	87.1%	-2.6 p u
No. of passengers (000)	99	-100%	242	-59.8%

SAS total traffic (scheduled and charter)	Jun20	Change1	Nov19-Jun20	Change1
ASK (Mill.)	427	-91.2%	18 116	-43.6%
RPK (Mill.)	223	-94.4%	11 824	-49.1%
Load factor	52.3%	-30.3 p u	65.3%	-6.9 p u
No. of passengers (000)	427	-85.5%	9,971	-45.7%

¹ Change compared to same period last year. p u = percentage units

Preliminary yield and PASK	Jun20	Nominal change	FX adjusted change
Yield, SEK	1.92	76.3%	82.8%
PASK, SEK	1.01	13.2%	17.4%
			Jun20
Punctuality (arrival 15 min)			95.8%
Regularity			99.7%
Change in total CO2 emissions, rolling 12 months			-28.1%
Change in CO2 emissions per available seat kilometer			-3,2%
Carbon offsetting of passenger related emissions			42%

Definitions:
RPK – Revenue passenger kilometers
ASK – Available seat kilometers
Load factor – RPK/ASK
Yield – Passenger revenues/RPK (scheduled)
PASK – Passenger revenues/ASK (scheduled)
Change in CO₂ emissions per available seat kilometers – SAS passenger related carbon emissions divided with total available seat kilometers (incl. non-revenue and EuroBonus), rolling 12 months
Carbon offsetting of passenger related emissions – Share of SAS passenger related carbon emissions compensated by SAS (EuroBonus members, youth tickets and SAS’ staff travel)
From fiscal year 2020 we report change in CO₂ emissions in total and per Available Seat Kilometers (ASK) to align with our overall goal to reduce our total CO₂ emissions by 25% by 2025, compared to 2005.

SAS aircraft photo gallery:

Denmark and Sweden are extending a life line of 9 billion kroner ($929 million) as part of a rescue package to save Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) from bankruptcy following the airline’s extensive losses due to COVID-19.

As a result, Denmark (14.2%) and Sweden (14.8%) are increasing their shares in the flag carrier.

Meanwhile layoffs continue with 1,900 jobs lost in Sweden, 1,300 in Norway and almost 1,600 in Denmark.

SAS aircraft photo gallery:

Scandinavian Airlines-SAS has made this announcement:

SAS is now launching its schedule for July. In total, the new traffic program will see capacity increased from 30 aircraft in June to over 40 in July, equivalent to just under 30 percent compared with the corresponding period last year.

As demand slowly but surely increases, SAS is resuming flights to many destinations from Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm. In addition to a number of routes from Copenhagen, SAS is also resuming international flights from Oslo to a number of destinations, including Reykjavík, and continuing its operations to Finland and London from Stockholm.

Further destinations will gradually be added from all three countries as demand returns.

“As restrictions and inbound travel rules are relaxed, we are seeing a rise in demand for travel. However, it remains just as important that travellers keep themselves informed of the rules that apply to each country and destination at all times, and that people stay at home if they are experiencing any symptoms. We would also like to remind you of the measures that SAS has implemented in order to reduce the risk of infection spreading and the changes that these measures entail for your journey, e.g. the requirement to wear a face mask during flights,” says Freja Annamatz, Head of Media Relations.

In July, SAS will fly to the following destinations:

From Copenhagen:

•                    Aalborg

•                    Aarhus

•                    Faeroes

•                    Malaga

•                    Palma de Mallorca

•                    Alicante

•                    Athens

•                    Nice

•                    Split

•                    London

•                    Berlin

•                    Dusseldorf

•                    Frankfurt

•                    Hamburg

•                    Munich

•                    Stuttgart

•                    Amsterdam

•                    Bologna

•                    Rome

•                    Milan

•                    Brussels

•                    Faro

•                    Gdańsk

•                    Geneva

•                    Zurich

•                    Reykjavík

•                    Palanga

•                    Vilnius

•                    Arlanda

•                    Oslo

•                    Stavanger

•                    Bergen

•                    Trondheim

•                    New York

•                    Chicago

•                    San Francisco

From Oslo:

•                    Alta

•                    Bardufoss

•                    Bodø

•                    Evenes

•                    Kirkenes

•                    Longyearbyen

•                    Tromsø

•                    Lakselv

•                    Ålesund

•                    Bergen

•                    Haugesund

•                    Kristiansand

•                    Kristiansund

•                    Molde

•                    Stavanger

•                    Trondheim

•                    Athens

•                    Malaga

•                    Alicante

•                    Palma de Mallorca

•                    Split

•                    Barcelona

•                    Billund

•                    Gran Canaria

•                    Nice

•                    Aalborg

•                    Aarhus

•                    Stockholm

•                    Copenhagen

•                    Reykjavík

Stavanger to  Aberdeen
From Stockholm

•                    Ängelholm

•                    Gothenburg

•                    Kalmar

•                    Kiruna

•                    Luleå

•                    Malmö

•                    Östersund

•                    Skellefteå

•                    Umeå

•                    Visby

•                    Malaga

•                    Alicante

•                    Palma de Mallorca

•                    Aten

•                    Thessaloniki

•                    London

•                    Rome

•                    Milan

•                    Faro

•                    Split

•                    Helsinki

•                    Oslo

•                    Copenhagen