Scandinavian Airlines planning for a stable future

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has been a successful carrier since 1946. With its fleet of 182 aircraft, SAS has served 119 destinations from their hubs in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo. Recently, however, its profitability has been shaky.

SAS has progressively been replacing a large majority of its ageing fleet, increasing its capacity significantly. While yield has increased by 4%, SAS has reduced the number of flights per day by 5%. As a consequence, the load factor has decreased to 63.9%.

To restore consistent future profits, SAS is planning to increase capacity to its existing routes; it has already increased capacity to 1.3% on its domestic routes by introducing a new route from the Faroe Islands.

SAS has also revealed plans to start up a new subsidiary, SAS airlines Ireland, with hubs in London Heathrow and Malaga. However, the launch date of 1 November 2017, has been postponed to spring 2018 due to a delay in aircraft deliveries. SAS Ireland’s London hub was to start off with five A320NEOs and four in Malaga.

Despite these delays and the decrease in capacity, there have been knock on effects on SAS’ profitability. Nevertheless, in addition to updating its fleet and preparing for a new airline launch, SAS has given assurances that it remains a reliable, profitable short and long haul Scandinavian Airline.