SAS CEO Frets About Coronavirus Crisis Stretching Into Airline’s Peak Summer Months
Photo Credit: SAS CEO Rickard Gustafson. The company reported its first-quarter results on Wednesday. SAS
Skift Take
SAS is correct to raise the possibility that coronavirus will stick around. If the number of cases in Europe continues to rise as we head through the rest of the year, the impact on airlines in the region is only going to increase. The big caveat though, is that fuel prices are likely to remain pretty low in that scenario.
The CEO of Scandinavian airline SAS is concerned that the coronavirus outbreak might hang around until the peak summer holiday season, when it would have a much bigger impact on the aviation industry.
SAS estimates it will take a revenue hit of around $20.6 million (200 million Swedish crowns) with the overall impact described as "manageable" given the time of year.
"[If] this situation is spreading globally, and if it's not contained before we enter into the summer season, it might be more problematic, not just for SAS but also for the industry as a whole," Rickard Gustafson, SAS CEO told analysts on Wednesday.
That said, Gustafson has yet to observe any significant fluctuations in the booking data.
"It's hard to guess where this is going. We don't have a crystal ball to assess what's going to happen. But what we can say is, as of now, when we look into the bo
