Almost 2 million passengers flew with SAS in August. The figure was negatively affected by the pilot strike the month before, which hit ticket sales.

During August, 1.85 million passengers traveled with SAS. This is an increase of 70 percent compared to the previous year, and 40 percent compared to July when the pilot strike took place.

However, the pilot strike also affected the figures in August, the company states.

”"We are pleased to see business picking up again in August, where SAS again had almost 2 million passengers. The total number of passengers was negatively affected by the pilot strike, which led to lower ticket sales during the period," says SAS CEO Anko van der Werff in a comment.

The cabin factor, which is a measure of how well-filled the planes are, for August was 79 percent, an improvement of 18 percentage points compared to August last year.

SAS shares have fallen 25 percent in the past month and are down 60 percent since the beginning of the year. The company is currently in a restructuring program where the goal is to save 7.5 billion kronor per year. In addition, at least 9.5 billion kronor in new capital must flow into SAS, while 20 billion kronor in debt and hybrid bonds must be converted into share capital.

”"Our transformation plan, SAS Forward, is being implemented with continued unabated vigor, leading to SAS becoming a financially stable airline that will be able to deliver the service that our customers expect," says Anko van der Werff.

Source: DI.SE