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SAS to close several non-Nordic routes

Airline company SAS is planning to shut down several routes outside the Nordic countries.

Published: 17 June 2011 12:26 CEST
SAS to close several non-Nordic routes

According to a statement released by SAS on Friday, this move is part of the company’s plans to improve SAS’s long-term position in Finland and the Nordics.

“We strongly feel that this is an important step for Blue1 to strengthen its position on the Nordic market,” said John Dueholm, SAS’s vice CEO, in the statement.

Blue1 is SAS’s regional airline in Finland. By readjusting the company’s focus to the Finnish and Nordic market, SAS hopes to boost Blue1’s profits.

To this end, SAS will also be phasing out their five remaining Avro RJ-85 airplanes starting in August, and streamline their fleet to Boeing 717.

“This is in line with our Core SAS strategy, focusing on the Nordic market which is our home market,” Dueholm said.

It is still unclear which and how many European routes will be affected by SAS’s decision.

In 2010, 25.2 million passengers flew with airlines within the SAS Group, making it the eighth largest airline company in Europe.

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SAS

‘We agree to disagree’: Still no progress in marathon SAS strike talks

By lunchtime on Friday, talks between the Scandinavian airline SAS and unions representing striking pilots were still stuck on "difficult issues".

Published: 15 July 2022 15:37 CEST
'We agree to disagree': Still no progress in marathon SAS strike talks

“We agree that we disagree,” Roger Klokset, from the Norwegian pilots’ union, said at lunchtime outside the headquarters of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise in Stockholm, where talks are taking place. “We are still working to find a solution, and so long as there is still some point in continuing negotiations, we will do that.” 

Mats Ruland, a mediator for the Norwegian government, said that there were “still several difficult issues which need to be solved”. 

At 1pm on Friday, the two sides took a short break from the talks for lunch, after starting at 9am. On Thursday, they negotiated for 15 hours, breaking off at 1am on Friday morning. 

READ ALSO: What’s the latest on the SAS plane strike?

Marianne Hernæs, SAS’s negotiator on Friday told journalists she was tired after sitting at the negotiating table long into the night. 

“We need to find a model where we can meet in the middle and which can ensure that we pull in the income that we are dependent on,” she said. 

Klokset said that there was “a good atmosphere” in the talks, and that the unions were sticking together to represent their members.

“I think we’ve been extremely flexible so far. It’s ‘out of this world’,’ said Henrik Thyregod, with the Danish pilots’ union. 

“This could have been solved back in December if SAS had not made unreasonable demands on the pilots,” Klokset added. 

The strike, which is now in its 12th day, has cost SAS up to 130m kronor a day, with 2,550 flights cancelled by Thursday, affecting 270,000 passengers. 

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