Scandinavian Airlines

Scandinavian Airlines or SAS, previously Scandinavian Airlines System, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and the largest airline in Scandinavia.

Part of the SAS Group and headquartered at Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN) in Sigtuna, Sweden, the airline operates 198 aircraft to 176 destinations in more than 30 countries. The airline's main hub is Kastrup or Copenhagen Airport, which is the main European and intercontinental hub. Somewhat smaller hubs also exist at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen and Stockholm-Arlanda Airport.

In 2006, SAS carried 25.4 million passengers, making a revenue of SEK 42 billion. This makes it the ninth-largest airline in Europe. SAS' fleet consists of Airbus A319, A321, A330 and A340, Boeing 737 Classic and Next Generation, Bombardier CRJ900, McDonnell Douglas MD-82 and MD-87. It is a founding member of the Star Alliance. The company has its head office in Arlanda, near Stockholm, Sweden.

The airline was founded in 1946 as a consortium to pool Det Danske Luftfartselskab's, Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik's and Det Norske Luftfartselskap's transatlantic services. European and domestic cooperation started two years later and, in 1951, the airlines merged to create SAS.

History
The airline was founded on 1 August 1946, when Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik AB (an airline owned by the Swedish Wallenberg family), Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S and Det Norske Luftfartselskap AS - the flag carriers of Denmark and Norway - formed a partnership to handle the intercontinental air traffic of these three Scandinavian countries. Operations started on 17 September 1946. In 1948 the Swedish flag carrier AB Aerotransport joined SAS and the companies coordinated European operations and finally merged to form the SAS Consortium in 1951. When established, the airline was divided between SAS Danmark (28.6%), SAS Norge (28.6%) and SAS Sverige (42.8%), all owned 50% by private investors and 50% by their governments.

In 1954, SAS became the first airline in the world to operate a trans-polar route. It was from Copenhagen to Los Angeles, with intermediate stops in Søndre Strømfjord, Greenland and Winnipeg, Canada, and this polar service became popular with Hollywood celebrities and production people travelling to Europe. The route was a publicity coup for the airline, which became well known as a result. Thanks to a price structure, which allowed free transit to other European destinations, this trans-polar route had gained popularity with US tourists throughout the late 1950s. SAS later operated trans-polar routes to Asia's Far East (Japan) via Greenland and Alaska, since the Soviet Union did not grant SAS the right to fly across Siberia and China was closed to overflights at that time.

In 1957, SAS was the first airline to offer "round the world service over the North Pole" via the North Pole shortcut Copenhagen-Anchorage-Tokyo. SAS entered the jet age in 1959 when its first jet aircraft, the Caravelle, entered service. In 1971, SAS put its first Boeing 747 jumbo jet into service.

SAS gradually acquired control of the domestic markets in all three countries by acquiring full or partial control of local airlines, including Braathens and Widerøe in Norway, Linjeflyg and Skyways Express in Sweden and Cimber Air in Denmark. In 1989, SAS acquired 18.4% of Texas Air Corporation, parent company of Continental Airlines, in a bid to form a global alliance. This stake was later sold. During the 1990s, SAS also bought a 20% stake in British Midland along with Lufthansa, which owns 30% (although as of January 2009 LH will own 80% of the carrier). SAS bought 95% of Spanair, the second largest airline in Spain, as well as Air Greenland. There are plans to dispose of all of these holdings and an agreement to divest more than 80 percent of the holdings in Spanair was signed with a Catalonian group of investors led by Consorci de Turisme de Barcelona and Catalana d'Inciatives in January 2009.

In May 1997, SAS formed the global Star Alliance network with Air Canada, Lufthansa, Thai Airways International and United Airlines. Four years earlier, SAS unsuccessfully attempted to merge with KLM, Austrian, and the now defunct carrier, Swissair, in a project called Alcazar. This failure led to the departure the following year of CEO Jan Carlzon, who was credited for the financial turnaround of the company starting in 1981 and who envisioned SAS ownership of multiple airlines worldwide. The ownership structure of SAS was changed in June 2001, with a holding company being created in which the holdings of the governments changed to: Sweden (21.4%), Norway (14.3%) and Denmark (14.3%) and the remaining 50% publicly held and traded on the stock market.

In 2004, Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) was divided into four companies; SAS Scandinavian Airlines Sverige AB, SAS Scandinavian Airlines Danmark AS, SAS Braathens AS and SAS Scandinavian International AS. SAS Braathens was re-branded SAS Scandinavian Airlines Norge AS in 2007. In October 2009 the four companies were once again united into one company, SAS Scandinavian System AB.

Corporate offices
Scandinavian Airlines' head office is at Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN) in Sigtuna Municipality, Sweden. The SAS Cargo Group A/S head office is in Kastrup, Tårnby Municipality, Denmark.

A previous SAS head office was located on the grounds of Bromma Airport in Stockholm Municipality. At a later point, the SAS head office was located in Frösundavik, Solna Municipality, Sweden, near Stockholm. That head office facility was built from 1985 through 1987 by Norwegian Niels Torp Architects. SAS intended to build its head office in the lake Brunnsviken area, near an exit to Stockholm Arlanda Airport. The plans caused controversy since the municipal and regional planners wanted the area to be used for recreation purposes. The Swedish government was about to sell land in the Brunnsviken area, so SAS took a plot of land, while the beaches and scenic elements of the area were retained. SAS held a competition amongst nine architects to determine who would get to design the head office. Niels Torp won the competition and a 55,000-square-metre (590,000 sq ft) complex was built. About 2,000 workers moved into the building. In 2010 the owner of the previous head office sold it to a different entity. SAS's cost reduction programme stated that the number of employees that would work at the SAS head office would decrease by one half, with 350 job losses. The move from Solna to Arlanda was scheduled to occur in the autumn of 2010.

Partners
Besides the agreements SAS has with its Star Alliance partners, SAS also has strategic agreements with Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian and United. The agreement includes code sharing and schedule coordination to facilitate improved connections between SAS and its partner airlines. SAS also co-operates with the other airlines in the SAS Group.

SAS has begun code-sharing with Shanghai Airlines, complementing its code-share arrangement with Air China.

Subsidiaries

 * Scandinavian Airlines International– SAS
 * Responsible for the SAS International Group's intercontinental traffic with long haul routes to North America and Asia out of the main hub in Copenhagen, as well as Stockholm and Oslo. Scandinavian Airlines International also operates all sales units outside Scandinavia. Scandinavian Airlines International has 900 employees.


 * Scandinavian Airlines in Denmark
 * Responsible for the traffic from Copenhagen to other European countries, the route from Copenhagen to Oslo, as well as for Danish domestic routes. Scandinavian Airlines DK is responsible for the sales units within Denmark. The company has 2800 employees.


 * Scandinavian Airlines in Sweden
 * Responsible for the traffic from Stockholm to other European countries, as well as for Swedish domestic routes. Scandinavian Airlines Sweden is also responsible for the sales units within Sweden. The company has 2500 employees.


 * Scandinavian Airlines in Norway
 * Scandinavian Airlines Norge is the result of the merger of SAS Norway and Braathens. The airline was first called SAS Braathens, but changed its name to Scandinavian Airlines Norge in 2007. SAS Norge is responsible for the traffic within Norway, as well as for the routes from Norway to other European countries. SAS Norge is also responsible for the sales units within Norway. The company has 3500 employees.


 * SAS Business Opportunities

Key business trends
The key trends for Scandinavian Airlines (which includes SAS Cargo, SAS Ground Handling and SAS Tech) over recent years are shown below (as at year ending 31 December) :

Codeshare agreements
Scandinavian Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines, * indicate as Star Alliance:

Current fleet


The Scandinavian Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft (active aircraft as of January 29, 2012):

Future fleet plans
SAS has earlier stated that they plan to buy up to 55 new narrow-body aircraft to replace its McDonnell Douglas MD-80s and Boeing 737 Classics. But as a revised plan they will replace 9 McDonnell Douglas MD-80s and 11 Boeing 737 Classics with 17 leased Boeing 737 Next Generations. 17 McDonnell Douglas MD-80s will later be replaced by Airbus A320s.

On June 20th 2011, SAS announced an order for 30 new A320 next generation aircraft as part of its fleet harmonisation plan. SAS has earlier announced that the fleet will be harmonized. Its short range aircraft will consist of two types from 2015: Airbus A320 family at the base in Copenhagen and Boeing 737NG at the bases in Stockholm and Oslo.

As part of the transition, all the MD80s in Copenhagen will be replaced by leased Airbus A320 and be completed by the end of 2014 which in turn will be replaced as from 2016 by the now 30 ordered Airbus A320neo. Airbus A320 is very attractive in the market and the SAS Group expects to finance the aircraft through a combination of leasing and loans.

All the MD80s at the base in Stockholm will be replaced by leased Boeing 737NGs, which will be completed during 2013. Finally all the Boeing 737 Classics at the base in Oslo will be replaced by Boeing 737NGs and this will be completed by the end of 2014.

Removal of SAS Dash Q400 fleet
In September 2007, two separate incidents of similar landing gear failures occurred within four days of each other on SAS Dash 8-Q400 aircraft. A third incident occurred in October 2007. On 28 October 2007, in a move that was described as unique by the Swedish press, the board of directors announced that all 27 Dash 8 Q400 aircraft were to be removed from service due to three landing gear failures.

A press release from SAS said that the company had reached a settlement with Bombardier and Goodrich, whereby the airline would receive SEK one billion as compensation, while SAS would purchase 27 new aircraft, with an option of 24 more. These aircraft will consist of 13 of the CRJ900 Nextgen (10 to SAS and 3 to Estonian Air) and 14 of the updated Q400 Nextgen units (8 to airBaltic and 6 to Widerøe), with 7 additional options.

SAS received the first CRJ-900 on December 3, 2008, with others soon to follow. They currently have eleven such aircraft, having received the eleventh unit on the 18th of October 2009.

SAS sold its original Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 fleet to Philippine Airlines for operation with subsidiary PAL Express, and also to Malev Hungarian Airlines.



In November 2007, it was revealed that Swedish Civil Aviation Authority began an investigation and accused Scandinavian Airlines System of cutting corners for maintenance. The airline reportedly made 2,300 flights in which safety equipment was not up to standard.

Lounges
The following locations are SAS Scandinavian, Stockholm, and Business locations:
 * Brussels Airport
 * Charles de Gaulle Airport
 * Chicago O'Hare International Airport
 * Copenhagen Airport (2)
 * Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport
 * Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
 * London Heathrow Airport
 * Newark Liberty International Airport
 * Oslo Gardermoen Airport (2)
 * Stockholm Arlanda Airport (3)

Fingerprint biometric identification
In 2006, SAS Sweden launched a new biometric system for use throughout Sweden. Each passenger's fingerprints are, for security purposes, matched to their respective checked baggage. The new technology will be phased in at all the airports served by SAS, although use of the system is voluntary for passengers. The system has been introduced in Norway.

EuroBonus
SAS's frequent-flyer program is called EuroBonus. Members also earn points on other Star Alliance flights.

Fly Home Club
Fly Home Club is SAS's membership club for Scandinavians living in Spain.

Incidents and accidents

 * On 4 July 1948, a DC-6B, SE-BDA collided with a British military plane at Northwood, north of London, England. All 32 on board were killed. See Northwood Mid-Air Collision
 * On 19 January 1960, a Caravelle III, OY-KRB crashed near Ankara, Turkey. All 42 on board were killed.See Scandinavian Airlines Flight 871
 * On 13 January 1969, SAS flight 933 DC-8-62, LN-MOO, hit the water while approaching Los Angeles. 15 of the 45 on board were killed.
 * On 19 April 1970 a DC-8-62, SE-DBE, experienced an uncontained engine fire during takeoff from Rome. Aircraft burned out, but all on board managed to evacuate safely.
 * On 30 January 1973, a DC-9-21, LN-RLM SAS flight 370, Oslo-Alta via Tromsø, was cleared for takeoff from runway 24. The takeoff run was normal and the DC-9 rotated at VR (125 knots). At that moment the stall warning system activated. Although the speed had increased to 140 knots (259 km/h), the pilot aborted the takeoff. The remaining 1100 m was not enough to bring the aircraft to a halt, the reversers did not deploy completely and the aircraft overran the runway and onto the ice covered Oslofjord. All passengers and crew evacuated before the plane broke through the ice and sank 20 minutes later. The decision to abort the take-off in spite of the high speed was because the flight crew had received outdated (by several hours) runway data, giving much better braking coefficients than the actual ones.
 * On 28 February 1984, SAS Flight 901, DC-10, LN-RKB departed Oslo (GEN) for a flight to New York City JFK. The aircraft touched down 1440 m past the runway 4R threshold. The crew steered the plane to the right side off the runway to avoid approach lights. The DC-10 ended up in shallow water. All on board the plane were uninjured.
 * On 23 February 1987, SAS flight 737, an McDonnell Douglas DC-9-41, SE-DAT landed hard on runway 9 and a go-around was initiated. After the second landing, the tail of the aircraft was found to have struck the runway, causing severe damage.
 * On 27 December 1991, SAS flight 751, an MD-81, OY-KHO "Dana Viking" crash landed at Gottröra (Sweden). During the initial climb, both engines ingested ice particles having broken loose from the wings, which had not been properly de-iced before departure. The ice damaged the compressor blades causing compressor stall. The stall caused repeated engine surges that destroyed both engines, leaving the aircraft with no propulsion. The aircraft landed in a field and broke in three parts. No fire broke out and all aboard the plane survived. Captain Stefan G. Rasmussen was later decorated by the Danish Queen for his performance. This incident was mentioned on The History Channel's True Action Adventures episode "Against All Odds" which first aired in the United States on 2 April 1997.
 * The Linate Airport disaster, involving the highest number of SAS passenger fatalities, occurred on 8 October 2001 in Milan, Italy, when an MD-87, SAS flight SK686, SE-DMA collided with a small Cessna jet during take-off. All 104 passengers and 6 crew aboard SK686 were killed, along with four people on the Cessna and another four people on the ground. Italian authorities established that the cause of the accident was a misunderstanding between air traffic controllers and the Cessna jet, and that the SAS crew had no role in causing the accident. Another factor was the inoperative ground movement radar at the time of the accident.
 * In the autumn of 2007, three separate incidents occurred, involving landing gear problems with the de Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 (Q400) airplane. These incidents (SAS flight SK1209, SAS flight SK2748 and SAS flight SK2867), while not resulting in hull loss or fatalities, were widely publicized in the media and eventually led to SAS permanently retiring its Dash 8 Q400 fleet.
 * On 23 August 2010, a female flight attendant sustained serious spinal injuries when the aircraft, a Boeing 737-600 encountered severe turbulence during approach to London Heathrow Airport. No injuries among the passengers were reported.


 * On 5 February 2012, a SAS McDonnell Douglas MD-82 aborted take-off at Copenhagen Airport due to smoke development in the cabin. The captain ordered an evacuation while the plane was still standing on the runway. None of the passengers suffered injuries. On board the plane were the Norwegian crown prince couple.