SAS carried more passengers

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) flew 2.6 million passengers in November for a 3.25 percent increase compared to the same month the year before. In that same 30-day period, occupancy grew 3.3 percentage points up to 60 percent, the company revealed.

The company highlighted the need that any comparison be made taking account of the plummeting air traffic sustained after 9/11.

SAS jacked up its occupancy rate in 4.1 points in November up to 63.4 percent. However, its ratio of earnings per seat dipped 11.8 percent in October and is posting a 2.1 percent plunge in the course of the first ten months.

Between January and November, the SAS Group chalked up a 12.8 percent drop of Danish passengers while domestic flights to Norway and Sweden fell by 8.1 and 7.7 percent respectively. International travelers were down 10.1 percent in the course of the first ten months.

In the realm of this industry in Europe, Braathens scored a major occupancy increase (over 8.4 points) whereas Spanair felt the consequences of a very weak demand.

For its part, Wideroe´s put up better numbers in both the number of passengers and the occupancy factor.