The number of passengers who flew with Scandinavian airline SAS in April was far higher than during the same month in 2021.
Over 1.5 million flew with SAS last month, around four times as many as in April 2020 when Covid-19 restrictions were still in broad effect.
SAS still has some way to go to return to the number of passengers it registered before spring 2020, the “pre-pandemic” period for the hard-hit industry.
The airline was affected by a pilots’ strike in April 2019 which affected results for that month, but 2.5 million people flew with SAS in April 2018, demonstrating how the airline is still lagging behind earlier years despite the apparent recovery.
“We continue the ramp-up and see the highest number of passengers since March 2020,” president and CEO of SAS Anko van der Werff said in a press statement.
“Looking forward, sales and booking trends are positive for the summer period ahead,” he added.
SAS’ capacity in April was around two-thirds of its capacity in 2018.
“SAS is a bit more restrained in increasing its capacity than many of its competitors,” aviation sector analyst Jacob Pedersen of Sydbank told news wire Ritzau.
The company faces a challenge to make as much profit from its services as it did before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Pedersen.
“The snapshot image of the trend in April is certainly encouraging but a closer analysis gives less cause for encouragement,” he said.
