note
SAS was founded when operations of three national airlines founded in 1920s were merged under one company called SAS. In the beginning SAS name was used only as common entity and all three airlines that were coordinating their operations under SAS, namely DDL of Denmark, DNL of Norways, ABA and SILA of Sweden, operated under its own brand names. In the beginning SAS was responsible only for inter-continental and european flights. First flight across the atlantic in SAS colors was conducted in September 1946 using brand new Douglas DC-4 from Stockholm Bromma to New York. At the end of the year flights to Brazil and Uruguay were innaugurated. Since 1948 European destinations were also served under SAS brand. In 1949 Bangkok and Singapore were added to the network. In 1951 all three airlines begun to trade under the name SAS. In 1954 SAS introduced first arctic flights. Route to Los Angeles via Sondre Stromfjord was innaugurated opening arctic to commercial traffic. This achievement was soon followed in February 1957 with first Copenhagen - Anchorage - Tokyo flight.
First jet SAS received was a Sud Caravelle delivered in April 1959. SAS was the first airline to put Caravelle into service. First Caravelle route was Copenhagen - Beirut. In 1967 SAS introduced Copenhagen - Tashkent - Bangkok - Singapore route greatly reducing travel time to Southeast Asia. In 1970 SAS joined forces with KLM, Swissair and UTA of France to provide common training and maintenance. In February 1971 SAS took delivery of its first wide-body aircraft - Boeing 747. In 1975 SAS retired its last Convair and became all jet airline. First Airbus joined the fleet in 1980 when SAS took delivery of an A300. In 1984 SAS received Airline of the year award by ATW. SAS introduced new corporate identity in 1983 and focused on developing business class service. In August 1987 Beijing was added to the network.
In May 1997 SAS became founding member of Star Alliance. In May 2000 SAS took delivery of its first Boeing 737. 2001 proved to be most difficult in SAS history. Mounting losses, aftermath of September 11th attacks and tragic loss of an aircraft in Milan put SAS into difficult financial position. SAS was divided into national divisions SAS Norway, SAS Sweden and SAS Denmark. New entity SAS International was formed to continue its Intercontinental network. Competition from low-cost carriers in Europe increased and SAS responded with creation of its own low-cost brand Snowflake. In spring 2004 SAS Norway and Braathens merged to become SAS Braathens.
In 2005 SAS became first airline to provide wireless internet connection on all its long-haul flights.
In July 2022, SAS filled for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. court.
In October 2023, Air France-KLM Group announced plans to invest alongside the Danish government and multiple investment firms in SAS following bankruptcy process.
founded - demised (age)
August 1 1946 - present (79years)
headquarters
Froesundaviks Alle 1, 19587, Stockholm
web
base airports
related operators
current /stored fleet (112)
