
| Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) | ||
|---|---|---|
| IATA SK BU |
ICAO SAS CNO |
Callsign SCANDINAVIAN SCANOR |
| Founded | 1946 |
|
| Hubs | Copenhagen Airport Stockholm-Arlanda Airport Oslo Airport, Gardermoen |
|
| Frequent flyer program | EuroBonus | |
| Member lounge | Scandinavian Lounge & Business Lounge | |
| Alliance | Star Alliance | |
| Fleet size | Total: 148 SAS International: 11 SAS Sweden: 37 SAS Denmark: 40 SAS Norway: 58 + Orders: 24 |
|
| Destinations | 112 | |
| Parent company | SAS AB | |
| Headquarters | Stockholm, Sweden *SAS Group, SAS AB *Scandinavian Airlines Sverige Copenhagen, Denmark *Scandinavian Airlines Danmark *Scandinavian Airlines Intercontinental Bærum, Norway *Scandinavian Airlines Norge |
|
| Key people | Mats Jansson (CEO of SAS Group Gunilla Berg (CFO of SAS Group Susanne Larsen (CEO SAS Denmark) Ola H. Strand (CEO SAS Norway) Anders Ehrling (CEO SAS Sweden) |
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| Website: http://www.flysas.com | ||
Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) is a multi-national airline for Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and the leading carrier in the Scandinavian countries, based in Stockholm, Sweden and owned by SAS AB. It is a founding member of the Star Alliance. It is also the founder of Air Greenland, Linjeflyg, Spanair, Thai Airways International, and the former charter airline Scanair. SAS operates out of three primary hubs, Copenhagen Airport, Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, and Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. In 2006 Scandinavian Airlines had 25 million passengers and the SAS Group had 38.6 million passengers.[1]
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The airline was founded on August 1, 1946, when Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S, Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik AB, and Det Norske Luftfartselskap AS (the flag carriers of Denmark, Sweden and Norway) formed a partnership to handle intercontinental traffic to Scandinavia[1]. Operations started on September 17, 1946. The companies coordinated European operations in 1948 and finally merged to form the SAS Consortium in 1951. When established, the airline was divided between SAS Danmark (28.6%), SAS Norge (28.6%) and SAS Sverige (42.8%), all owned 50% by private investors and 50% by their governments.
In 1954, SAS became the first airline in the world to operate a trans-polar route. It was from Copenhagen to Los Angeles, stopping in Søndre Strømfjord in Greenland, and it became popular with Hollywood celebrities and production people when travelling to Europe. The route was a publicity coup for the airline, which became well known as a result. Thanks to a price structure which allowed free transit to other European destinations these trans polar routes were enormously popular with American tourists in the 1950s. It would later operate trans-polar routes to East Asia, over Greenland and Alaska, since Siberia and China was not allowed to fly over at that time.
In 1957, SAS was the first airline to offer "round the world service over the North Pole" via the North Pole shortcut, Copenhagen-Anchorage-Tokyo. SAS entered the jet age in 1959 when the first jet aircraft, the Caravelle, entered service. In 1971, SAS put its first Boeing 747 jumbo jet into service.
SAS gradually acquired control of the domestic markets in all three countries by acquiring full or partial control of local airlines, including Braathens and Widerøe in Norway, Linjeflyg and Skyways Express in Sweden and Cimber Air in Denmark. In 1989, SAS acquired 18.4% of Texas Air Corporation, parent company of Continental Airlines, in a bid to form a global alliance. This stake was later sold. During the 1990s, SAS also bought a 20% stake in British Midland which, along with Lufthansa, own 49.9% of the carrier. SAS bought 95% of Spanair, the second largest airline in Spain as well as Air Greenland. There are plans to dispose of all of these holdings. [2]
In May 1997, SAS formed the global Star Alliance network with Air Canada, Lufthansa, Thai Airways International and United Airlines. Four years earlier, SAS unsuccessfully attempted to merge with KLM, Austrian, and the defunct carrier, Swissair, in a project called Alcazar. [3] This failure led to the departure the following year of CEO Jan Carlzon, who was credited for the financial turnaround of the company starting in 1981 and who envisioned SAS ownership of multiple airlines worldwide. The ownership structure of SAS was changed in June 2001, with a holding company being created in which the holdings of the governments changed to: Sweden (21.4%), Norway (14.3%) and Denmark (14.3%) and the remaining 50% publicly held and traded on the stock market. SAS employs 9147 staff.
In 2004, Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) was divided into 4 different companies SAS Scandinavian Airlines Sverige AB, SAS Scandinavian Airlines Danmark AS, SAS Braathens AS and SAS Scandinavian International AS. SAS Braathens was rebranded SAS Scandinavian Airlines Norge AS in 2007.
SAS has numerous awards collected, including Airline of the year and best international bonus promotion.
During 2007 SAS started eleven routes from Stockholm, two routes from Gothenburg, one route from Oslo as well as three seasonal routes from Copenhagen.[2].
As of January 2008 SAS have announced the following routes to open:
| Begins | From | To | Freq./week | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-07-01 | Helsingborg | Nice | 1 | seasonal | [3] |
| 2008-07-12 | Tokyo Narita Airport | Bergen Airport | 1 | seasonal (only NRT-BGO) | [4] |
| 2008-08-26 | Kalmar | Nice | 1 | seasonal | [5] |
| 2008-10-27 | Copenhagen | Delhi | 3 | [6] | |
| 2008-12-19 | Stockholm | Kittilä | 2 | seasonal (ends March 27) |
See also SAS Group Fleet
Eleven aircraft will be pulled from the fleet in the autumn of 2008.
The Scandinavian Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft as of November 2007:[4][5]
| Aircraft | Total | Passengers (Business/Extra/Economy) |
Routes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319-100 | 4 | 141 | European, Scandinavian | SAS Denmark |
| Airbus A321-200 | 8 | 198 | European, Scandinavian | SAS Denmark |
| Airbus A330-300 | 4 | 264 (34/35/195) | North America | SAS International |
| Airbus A340-300 | 7 |
245 (46/28/171) | North America and Asia | SAS International |
| Boeing 737-400 | 4 | 150 | Norwegian Domestic | SAS Norway |
| Boeing 737-500 | 13 | 120 | Norwegian domestic | SAS Norway |
| Boeing 737-600 | 26 (+2 orders from other carrier) |
112-123 | Domestic, Scandinavian, European | SAS Norway, SAS Sweden |
| Boeing 737-700 | 17 |
131-141 | Norwegian domestic, Scandinavian , European | SAS Norway, |
| Boeing 737-800 | 13 (+5 orders) |
186 | Domestic, Scandinavian, European | SAS Norway, SAS Sweden |
| Bombardier CRJ-900 | 0 (13 orders + 17 options) |
88 | Domestic, Scandinavian, European | SAS Denmark, Dash-8 replacement aircraft. |
| Fokker 50 | 6 | 50 | Norwegian Domestic | SAS Norway (SAS Norlink) |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-81 | 2 | 150 | Domestic | SAS Denmark, SAS Sweden |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | 34 | 150 | Domestic, Scandinavian, European | SAS Denmark, SAS Sweden |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-87 | 6 (+6 orders from other carrier) |
125 | Domestic, Scandinavian, European | SAS Denmark, SAS Sweden |
SAS Scandinavian Airlines Fleet only for subsdidaries see SAS Group fleet. The average age of the SAS fleet is 12.5 years as of June 2008.[6]
| Type | Years | Routes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress" | 1946 | Long haul | from ABA |
| Junkers Ju 52 | 1946-1956 | Norwegian domestic | from DNL |
| Douglas DC-3 | 1946-1957 | European | |
| Douglas DC-4 | 1946-1956 | Long haul | |
| Short S.25 Sandringham | 1948-1951 | Norwegian domestic | from DNL |
| Douglas DC-6 | 1948-1960 | Long haul | |
| Douglas DC-6B | 1952-1964 | Long haul | |
| Convair Metropolitan | 1956-1970 | European and domestic | |
| Convair 990 | European | ||
| Sud Aviation Caravelle III | 1959-1974 | European and domestic | |
| Douglas DC-7 | 1956-1967 | Long haul | |
| Douglas DC-8 | 1960-1985 | Long haul | |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-9 | 1968-2003 | European and domestic | |
| Fokker F28 | 1973-1999 | European and domestic | |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-10 | 1974-1991 | Long haul | |
| Boeing 747 | 1971-1989 | Long haul (Los Angeles, New York and Far East) | |
| Airbus A300 | 1980-1987 | European | |
| Fokker F27 | 1984-1990 | European and domestic | |
| Boeing 767 | 1989-2004 | Long haul | |
| Saab 2000 | 1997-2003 | European and domestic | |
| Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 | 2000-2007 | European and domestic |
On October 28, 2007, in a move that was described as unique by Swedish news, the board of directors announced that all 27 Dash 8 Q400 aircraft were to be removed from service due to the three recent landing gear failures. In a move the board of directors hopes to prevent the loss of trust in the SAS brand, the cost of this action is yet to be calculated.[7]
A press release from SAS indicated that the company had reached a settlement with Bombardier and Goodrich, where the airline would receive SEK one billion as compensation, while SAS would purchase 27 new aircraft, with an option of 24 more. These aircraft will consist of 13 of the CRJ900 Nextgen (10 to SAS and 3 to Estonian Air) and 14 of the updated Q400 Nextgen units (8 to airBaltic and 6 to Widerøe), with 7 additional options. [8][9]
In 2006 SAS Sweden launched a new biometric system in use throughout Sweden. Each passenger's fingerprints are matched to their respective checked baggage, for security purposes. The new technology will be phased into all airports that SAS serves.
SAS own program EuroBonus, also earns points on other Star Alliance Frequent flyer programs.
Fly Home Club, for Scandinavians living abroad.
The following locations are SAS Scandinavian, Stockholm, and Business locations:
EuroBonus Gold card members are allowed to use partner clubs, as well as Star Alliance Gold lounges, which offer more clubs in more locations. For partner club information, visit http://www.flysas.com/: [7].
Besides the agreements SAS has with its Star Alliance partners, SAS also has strategic agreements with Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian and United. The agreement includes code sharing and time tables that are suited for easier connections between SAS and the other airlines. SAS also co-operates with the other airlines in the SAS Group. More Recently, SAS has began codesharing with Shanghai Airlines, which just entered the Star Alliance, complimenting codeshares with Air China.
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