Thousands of Swedish football fans planning to travel to France for the European championship could be left stranded if a strike by pilots at SAS is not resolved in time. The strike, which started Friday after wage talks broke down, led to the cancellation of 220 flights Sunday affecting 26,000 passengers, many of them travelling to France where Sweden play Ireland Monday. "We have our full focus on finding a solution to the conflict," SAS CE Rickard Gustavsson said. "I think it's very important now that both parties take responsibility and bring the situation to an end. That 26,000 passengers are affected today alone doesn't build confidence." Negotiations began again Sunday to try to end the dispute. <br/>
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SAS Scandinavian Airlines posted a loss after tax of SEK75m (US$9.3m) for the first half of its financial year, substantially reduced from a loss of SEK361m for the same period last year. Revenue for the half-year, which ended in April, dipped slightly, to SEK17.2b compared to SEK17.8b last time. A substantial factor in the half-year loss was adverse currency exchange rates, which had a negative impact of SEK875m on operating income over the period, SAS president and CE Rickard Gustafson said. He said the figures had also been hit by a combination of a 6.4% capacity increase in the market and lower fuel prices. These had translated into lower fares, which had led to substantial pressure on yields—these dropped 9.2% in Q3 compared to the year-ago period. <br/>