CURRENT ACCOUNT: Ryanair claimed another scalp yesterday when Mr Jorgen Lindegaard, the chief executive of Scandinavian airline SAS, delivered something of a back-handed compliment.

He told Reuters that Ryanair had taught the flag-carrier of Sweden, Norway and Finland a lesson by entering its home market and showing it could lure clients with cheap tickets, even at a time when traditional airlines were cutting capacity.

"There are companies that have been very good at this - companies which have really benefited from the weakness that we have, from our lack of ability to change, from our lack of productivity," he said.

Next spring SAS will respond with its own low-fare offering called Scandinavian Light, offering flights to southern European destinations.

"Ryanair certainly did something that was new and different. They created a new market and they were very tough on us - they still are very tough on us," Mr Lindegaard said.

Looks like Ulrika Jonsson and Sven Goran Eriksson aren't the only Swedes who are having a bad week.