SAS has secured support from its main owners, the Danish and Swedish states, to gain access to a credit line totaling SEK 3 billion.
The credit line is intended to create a liquidity buffer and, according to SAS, should be seen as a complement to the airline's ongoing activities with cost savings and other liquidity-enhancing measures. The credit line must be designed in accordance with EU state aid rules.
”"The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to demand for air travel remaining at low levels for an extended period of time. Market conditions also make it difficult to predict how demand will develop ahead of the important summer season, when customers largely choose to book their tickets at short notice," SAS writes.
SAS will present its interim report on Thursday. Danish Sydbank recently released an analysis in which the bank's long-time airline analyst Jacob Pedersen reiterated reservations and a relatively pessimistic view of the immediate future.
Sydbank's forecast is that leisure travel could be back to almost normal levels by the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023. For business travel, the recovery is likely to be significantly slower. Even in 2024 and 2025, the number of business trips is predicted to be 20 percent below the level that applied before Covid-19. This is a blow to SAS, which is strong in this area, the news agency Finwire reported from the analysis.
Sydbank has pointed out in previous analyses how investors are not looking at the revenue side and the financial situation at SAS, but are acting on the euphoria of a reopening.
Source: di.se
