SkyEurope Airlines load factor for the 12 months ended May 2006 improved by 2.6 percentage points reaching 76.2%. The load factor in May 2006 decreased to 70.5% due to a reduction in non scheduled services, a strong increase of available seat capacity and the opening of new routes including the new base in Prague.

Several milestones marked the month of May 2006:

SkyEurope received its fourth brand new Boeing 737-700 Next Generation aircraft on 26 May 2006 and put it into scheduled service. Out of the 16 Boeing 737 fleet, the four brand new aircraft are operating from SkyEurope’s bases in Prague and Krakow.

SkyEurope has a firm aircraft order for 16 Boeing 737-700 NG that are scheduled to be delivered until end of 2007. The first 12 are financed under operating leases from GECAS. The four remaining aircraft that are expected to be delivered in the second half of 2007 are direct buys from Boeing and will be financed “on-balance sheet”. SkyEurope has mandated Bank of Scotland Corporate to provide pre-delivery payment and long term loan financing for these four new Boeing 737-700s (with a combined value of USD 220m at list prices). This will strengthen SkyEurope’s balance sheet and is expected to provide a competitive cost of aircraft ownership. The Company aims to achieve a balanced finance mix between owned and leased aircraft.

SkyEurope published its first half year results 2006 on 26 May 2006.

To take advantage of growth opportunities in countries expected to join the European Union, as well as to develop the SkyEurope brand in large emerging markets in Eastern Europe, the Company will base its further development on its “Go East” strategy. To provide the adequate capacity to enter these markets, SkyEurope intends to exercise purchase rights for additional aircraft to be financed in part by debt and in part by issuance of new shares. Against this background, the Company will hold an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of its shareholders on Tuesday 20 June 2006 in Vienna to authorize its management to issue new shares to finance the fleet and continued network expansion.

Passenger traffic figures for May 2006:

Monthly	May 2005	May 2006	Change
Passengers (1)	149,929	216,246	44.2%
Load factor (2)	79.3%	70.5%	- 8.8 pp
Rolling 12 months ending	May 2005	May 2006	Change
Passengers (1)	1,302,077	2,171,751	66.8%
Load factor (2)	73.6%	76.2%	+ 2.6 pp

Sist oppdatert: 09.06.06 01:10