Starting with its summer 2016 program, SAS is launching yet another year round service between the US and Scandinavia. From late March 2016, SAS will operate daily nonstop flights between Copenhagen and Boston. As such, SAS will be the first carrier to fly directly to Boston from Scandinavia.
As part of its determination to further strengthen its offer to frequent travelers to and from Scandinavia, SAS is now launching a year round nonstop daily service from Copenhagen to Boston. In 2016, SAS will offer approx 500 flights between Boston and Copenhagen and 6,600 flights between Scandinavia and the US – a total of 1.6 million seats between USA and Scandinavia. This further reinforces SAS’s position as the number one Scandinavian carrier:
– SAS is the absolute strongest carrier between Scandinavia and the US, a market where we are seeing growing demand amongst frequent travelers. Boston has long been high on our wish list of nonstop destinations and we are therefore delighted to start selling tickets for this direct daily service from Copenhagen. It is especially important for our customers who travel for business purposes that we offer flexible travel options, and this is why this route is aimed at these frequent travelers in particular, said SAS Group CEO Rickard Gustafson.
The route will be operated by an 86 seat Boeing 737-700 BBJ (Boeing Business Jet) and is primarily aimed at customers traveling for business purposes to meet growing demand on this route from the business segment in particular. Companies in the high tech, finance and Life Science industries plus the various top colleges and universities in both regions have long sought a nonstop daily connection with Copenhagen. With timetables that provide good connections, SAS also expects to attract a large number of passengers via Copenhagen to/from major points in Scandinavia and Northern Europe.
– The new SAS route to Boston provides daily flights between two key metropolises, benefiting both Scandinavian and North American travelers, and the strong US dollar may make even more Americans want to go to Denmark, which would benefit the entire Danish economy. The new route also strengthens Copenhagen Airport’s position as a northern European airport with some of the best connections to the important North American market, said Thomas Woldbye, CEO of Copenhagen Airports A/S.
Also Boston Airport applauds the route launch:
– Boston Logan has become a terrific gateway for those traveling to Europe and beyond. We are honoured that Scandinavian Airlines added this flight and a new airline to our roster, providing yet another way for our customers to enjoy Scandinavia and Europe, Massport CEO Thomas P. Glynn said.
Tickets for the new SAS route to Boston go on sale on 9 October. The route opens on 29 March 2016 and will be operated by PrivatAir with a Boeing 737 configured with 20 Business and 66 Go seats. Departure and arrival times are scheduled to connect with flights to and from Copenhagen to major airports in Scandinavia and Northern Europe.
SAS currently offers long haul flights from Scandinavian to New York, Washington DC, Chicago and San Francisco and recently launched new direct routes to the US in 2016: From Stockholm to Los Angeles, from Oslo to Miami and from Copenhagen to Miami.
Timetables Copenhagen-Boston
From Copenhagen: SK927 will depart daily at 12:50 arriving in Boston at 15:20.
From Boston: SK928 will depart daily at 17:30 arriving at 07.00 the following day.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines
SAS Scandinavian Airlines sells Blue1 to Cityjet
SAS begins collaboration with Cityjet on regional jet services. As part of this collaboration, Cityjet is also acquiring 100% of the shares in SAS subsidiary Blue1.
SAS’s strategy is to offer frequent travelers a broad network with frequent flights to, from and within Scandinavia. To adapt the size of the production to traffic flows SAS utilizes hired capacity, known as a wet lease, with smaller regional jet and turboprop aircraft.
In line with this strategy, SAS has entered into an agreement with Cityjet on the wet lease of eight new Bombardier CRJ900s. SAS already operates twelve regional jet aircraft of this type through its subsidiary, Cimber.
“We are looking forward to working with Cityjet to further expand our regional route network and thereby strengthen SAS’s offering to frequent travelers. The eight brand new CRJ900s from Cityjet will provide us with efficient and flexible production of regional flights that will complement SAS’s production on the larger traffic flows,” says Rickard Gustafson, President and CEO at SAS.
The new aircraft, which each have 90 seats and are painted in SAS colors, will be put into service from March 2016 on routes and at times when there is a need for smaller aircraft. The wet lease agreement is for three years and covers eight Bombardier CRJ900s with an option on a further six aircraft.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for Cityjet to work with a leading airline such as SAS. We are looking forward to a long-term cooperation, where we will deliver a high level of quality in terms of efficiency and customer service for SAS passengers. We are also keen to benefit from the experience and knowledge of the Nordic airline industry that the acquisition of Blue1 will give us,” says Patrick Byrne, Chairman of the Board at Cityjet.
As part of this collaboration, Cityjet is acquiring 100% of the shares in SAS subsidiary Blue1. The sale of Blue1 will lead to a marginal impact on SAS’s income before tax, cash and net debt. The Group’s income after tax during Q4 2014/2015 will be negatively impacted of around MSEK 90, primarily due to write down of capitalized loss carry forwards. The sale and the new wet lease agreement are expected to increase cost efficiency and flexibility.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines
SAS Scandinavian Airlines becomes first EU carrier to op. enhanced A330
Scandinavian Airlines will today become the first European airline to operate the long-haul A330-300 Enhanced.
The carrier will debut the aircraft on its Copenhagen to Chicago route this afternoon, with take-off scheduled for 1540 local time (1440 BST).
It will be rostered between Copenhagen and Chicago for a month, before flying from Stockholm to both Hong Kong, which launched this month, and Chicago.
SAS will take delivery of a further three A330-300 Enhanceds over the next half year, with another scheduled for delivery later this month, and two more in early 2016. SAS will also receive eight A350-900 aircraft from 2018 onwards.
Rickard Gustafson, president and CEO of SAS, said: “We are pleased to welcome our passengers on board our new A330-300 Enhanced.
“We are making significant investments in our fleet and at the same time launching new routes, giving us the strongest range of services to United States and Asia from Scandinavia. We are also lowering our fuel consumption as the new aircraft are delivered, which will help to reduce our fuel emissions.”
Earlier this year, SAS debuted its new-look aircraft.
Business Traveller