SAS reports 1.1 million passengers in September, an increase of nearly 90 percent year-on-year. The company sees increased demand but warns of uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.
”The numbers are a bit disappointing, it's a lower increase than I expected,” says Jacob Pedersen, aviation analyst at Sydbank.
Revenue per passenger kilometer (RPK) increased by just over 151 percent to SEK 1.1 billion in September. Revenue per seat kilometer increased by 70 percent to SEK 2.1 billion. Capacity increased and was 74 percent higher than in September last year. The cabin factor for September ended at 54 percent, which is 17 percentage points higher than the same month the year before.
Anko van der Werff, President and CEO of SAS SAS +0.24% , is pleased with the development and notes that demand has increased as travel restrictions have eased. At the same time, he warns, as he has done on previous occasions, that uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and future demand remains:
”"SAS must continue to act quickly and flexibly to be able to adapt to changes in customers' willingness to travel," he writes in a comment.
Jacob Pedersen, who follows SAS closely, is not impressed with the company's development and notes that in terms of revenue, the sequential increase between August and September is around 5 percent. This is less than the normal year 2019, when the increase between August and September was 7 percent.
”"We're seeing a really, really slow improvement," he tells Di TV, adding that he expects a faster recovery later this fall.
”If you look at how many people want to fly and are looking for tickets, the numbers are stronger.”
SAS's currency-adjusted yield, revenue per passenger kilometer, decreased by 12.9 percent compared to the same month last year.
The so-called currency-adjusted Pask level, passenger revenue in relation to regular available airline seats, was at the same time up by 28.6 percent.
Punctuality, measured as arrivals within 15 minutes of time, increased to 88.1 percent from 87.4 percent in August.
SAS already saw demand for air travel increase this summer, compared to the severely pandemic-hit months the year before. In August, the number of passengers was also just over one million, which was an increase of 52 percent year-on-year.
On Thursday, Finnair also reported traffic figures, noting an increase in the number of passengers of 158 percent compared to September 2020. RPK came in 220 percent higher year-on-year and ASK grew by 151 percent compared to September 2020.
Source: di.se
