SAS is adding capacity and new routes for the summer, as it attempts to resuscitate its network, as well as its fortunes.
SAS Airbus A320neo at Heathrow Airport – Image, Economy Class and Beyond.
Long Haul Additions
Let us start with the Long Haul network. As already announced, SAS will start flights from Gothenburg and Aalborg to Newark, New York with an Airbus A321LR, increasing its US coverage.
For those looking to Asia, SAS will resume its route to Tokyo Haneda, with the airline flying three times a week. Prior to that SAS will operate several flights to Tokyo to accommodate the high demand around Easter. The route will be operated by Airbus A350 aircraft.
Finally, SAS also adds a third weekly service on Copenhagen-Shanghai, rounding out its long-haul network changes.
Europe
SAS continues to ramp up by offering customers an additional 10 European routes as well as adding frequencies to popular Mediterranean destinations such as Alicante, Malaga, Mallorca, Split and Sicily.
The new routes are:
- Stockholm-Florence – new twice-weekly service on Fridays and Sundays from mid-August
- Stockholm-Larnaca – new weekly service on Saturdays from mid-August
- Oslo-Tenerife – new weekly service on Tuesdays from late June to mid-August
- Oso-Hamburg – up to twice weekly, resumed from Easter
- Oslo-Berlin – up to five times weekly, resumed from Easter
- Oslo-Prague – new twice-weekly service on Thursdays and Sundays from end-September
- Bergen-Palma de Mallorca – new weekly service on Saturdays from mid-June to mid-August
- Bergen-Manchester – twice-weekly service resumed on Mondays and Fridays from September
- Trondheim-Split – new weekly service on Saturdays from the end of May to mid-October
- Oslo-Tallinn – new twice-weekly service on Thursdays and Sundays from mid-August
Additional route capacity and flights have been released for:
- Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm to Barcelona, Malaga, and Palma de Mallorca
- Stockholm to Beirut (subject to regulatory approval)
- Copenhagen to Catania and Palermo
- Oslo to Alicante and Las Palmas
- Bergen and Stavanger to Alicante
- Bergen and Stavanger to Split
Domestic
SAS is adding more domestic flights from Oslo, to:
- Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim and Ålesund as
- Copenhagen to Ålesund
The airline is also adding more seats and flights between Stockholm and Helsinki.
In Quotes
Erik Westman, EVP Network and Revenue Management.
“We are delighted to welcome our passengers back and seeing the desire to travel continuing to rise. SAS is increasing capacity this summer, adding more routes and additional flights to popular destinations. We are also glad to return to beautiful Tokyo with three weekly flights in June and to launch our new routes to Newark,”
A busy (and hopefully) profitable summer
With SAS growing slowly and traffic demand increasing, the airline will be hoping for a busy and profitable summer. With the airline in the middle of a turnaround plan (after agreeing on new terms with lessors), it needs to perform for the summer season.
With the addition of new routes that should incentive passengers, there should be reasonable options for those who need to fly with SAS.
The trick as usual is to ensure the customers are paying reasonable fares to cover the costs and make a profit – and buffer for the winter season.
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