Thursday, August 29, 2024 Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) has embarked on a new journey after successfully completing its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the United States and finalizing its corporate restructuring in Sweden. Prior to this transformation, SAS was publicly traded on stock exchanges in Copenhagen, Oslo, and Stockholm. However, following its restructuring, the airline marked the end of its public trading era on August 13, transitioning to new ownership led by a consortium that includes Air France-KLM.
This shift in ownership brings significant strategic changes, including SAS’s departure from the Star Alliance to join SkyTeam, the alliance associated with its new investors. The airline also undertook substantial financial and operational adjustments, successfully restructuring $2 billion in debt and optimizing its fleet and associated costs. Agreements were reached with key creditors and stakeholders to facilitate this transition.
SAS’s efforts have shown positive results. In the fiscal year 2024, spanning from November 2023 to July 2024, the airline carried 18 million passengers, marking a 6.5% increase compared to the previous year.
July also saw SAS achieving record-breaking monthly profitability, reflecting the success of its cost-reduction strategy, which has saved approximately SEK 7.5 billion ($736.1 million) under the ‘SAS FORWARD’ plan.
According to data from ch-aviation, SAS operated 131 aircraft in 2020. Over the following years, the a.