Airline SAS said on Tuesday its immediate future was secure and confirmed the appointment of a new board.

In a statement, the company said it had emerged from the restructuring process as a “a competitive and financially robust airline with a strengthened capital structure”.

Since 2022, SAS has been embroiled in a bankruptcy protection (Chapter 11) process in the United States, obliging the company to report accounting figures each month.

The airline’s new principal owners are Castlelake, Air France-KLM, Lind Invest and the Danish State, with the new chairman of the board named as Kåre Schultz, whose CV includes a spell as deputy CEO with pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk.

The airline’s restructuring has meanwhile involved a move from the Star Alliance to SkyTeam code-sharing network.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How SAS’s decision to switch airline alliance will affect travellers

“SAS has done a truly impressive job in navigating through the restructuring proceedings, and in building a competitive business positioned for growth,” Schultz said in the statement. 

“Together with SAS’ new investors, board and management, as well as with our partners in the SkyTeam alliance, we will continue to collaborate with partners and customers to drive transformative changes in aviation,” he said.

The end of the bankruptcy protection procedure had been expected. SAS previously announced it would see the process through by the end of this summer, and the company was delisted from the stock exchange on August 13th.

The airline’s corporate restructuring has been approved by the United States and the EU as well as the Swedish legal system.

Some 1.2 billion dollars have been injected into the company by its new owners.

SAS can now begin to focus its efforts elsewhere, aviation analyst Jacob Pedersen of Danish bank Sydbank said in a comment to the Ritzau newswire.

“After a big rescue operation, SAS is now in a significantly better financial position,” he said.

“The company has far less debt, far lower costs, and more money in its coffers from the new ownership group,” he said.

Schultz’ first and most important task will be to plan the airline’s future growth, Pedersen added.

“SAS has almost permanently shrunk during the last 20 years, but we are likely to now see a SAS with more of an appetite for growth,” he said.