Stockholm (awp/afp) – The Swedish airline SAS, which has been under US bankruptcy protection since July, widened its losses from May to July, when its activity was weighed down by a pilots’ strike .
The company on Friday posted a net loss of 1.84 billion Swedish kronor (167 million Swiss francs) for the third quarter of its staggered financial year, 38% higher than that suffered for the May-July 2021 period.
The group’s revenues were “seriously affected” by the strike observed by pilots from July 4 to 19, which forced SAS to cancel some 4,000 flights and affected 380,000 passengers, the company wrote in a press release.
However, SAS notes that “general underlying travel demand has been robust” and that it has seen an increase in its passenger numbers as anti-Covid restrictions are lifted around the world.
This shows a quarterly turnover of 8.58 billion crowns, more than double that achieved a year earlier.
“Because of the uncertainties that remain around the world”, the company nevertheless indicates that it is “cautious” for its outlook for the coming quarters.
“Traffic to and from Asia remains impacted by Covid-19 related restrictions as well as the geopolitical situation,” she wrote.
In difficulty since the start of the health crisis, SAS, which employs 7,000 people mainly in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, announced in early July that it had filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States as part of its ongoing restructuring.
This device allows a company that can no longer repay its debt to restructure itself protected from its creditors while continuing its current operations.
SAS, whose two largest shareholders are Denmark and Sweden, with 21.8% of the capital each, announced in mid-August that it had reached an agreement guaranteeing it a loan of 700 million dollars to enable it to carry out its restructuring.
The pilots’ strike, which would have cost the company the equivalent of 9 to 12 million Swiss francs a day, was carried out in protest against the wage cuts planned by management as part of the company’s financial recovery . It resulted in an agreement on new collective agreements.
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