Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) | News, deals and offers from SAS

SAS has been awarded the prize of Best Sustainability Report by the accounting and consultancy firm Deloitte. SAS shares first place with Stora Enso, with Trelleborg and Holmen coming in second and third, respectively.

Ever wondered where you find the best Martini in Scandinavia; what's the latest fashionable restaurant in Delhi; what the best morning, midday or evening experience is in Chicago; or where to get the best bargains in Tokyo? Or how about the best public transport route in New York; where to power lunch in Beijing or where to dine alone in Seattle?

The SAS Group has reached an initial agreement with a group of investors from Catalonia, lead by the Consorci de Turisme de Barcelona and Catalana d'Iniciatives, for their incorporation as new majority shareholders into SAS' subsidiary, Spanair S.A.

The SAS Group has signed an agreement to sell its 47.2% holding in airBaltic to the management of airBaltic. The sales price amount will be paid in cash no later than 31st January 2009. The transaction results in a capital gain of approximately 175 million Swedish Krona for the SAS Group. SEB Enskilda has been acting as financial adviser for SAS Group in this transaction.

SAS has decided to reduce fuel surcharges with 3 EUR on domestic, intra-Scandinavian and European flights. On intercontinental flights the surcharges will be reduced by 5 EUR between Europe and USA/Asia.

SAS Group has decided to reduce surcharges with 3 EUR on Domestic, intra-Scandinavian and European flights. On Intercontinental flights the surcharges will be reduced by 5 EUR.

SAS, with other leading air carriers, Boeing and Honeywell's UOP, a refining technology developer, established a group to accelerate the development and commercialization of sustainable new aviation fuels.

The SAS Group today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gate Gourmet Switzerland GmbH regarding final negotiations on a new catering contract in Scandinavia, which are scheduled to be completed within two weeks.

The pilot association and SAS have reached an agreement regarding the principles for managing pilot redundancies in the company. SAS has previously announced that the Group has been forced to ground 18 aircraft as part of the Profit 08 action program. This program is to contribute to turn around the negative earnings trend in SAS, due to the record-high oil prices and the prospects of a recession.

SAS was presented with the "Leadership in Technology Award" at the annual award ceremony of the trade magazine, Airline Business, which was held in London yesterday, July 13. SAS received the award primarily for its contributions to "green approaches" and the use of biometry at checking-in.

As communicated in the SAS Group Strategy plan, Strategy 2011, SAS has been in a process of divesting Spanair. The target for the SAS Group has been to finalize this process before the end of second Quarter 2008. Due to the challenging market conditions in the Spanish aviation market coupled with record oil prices and pressure in the financial sector SAS has not been able to reach its targeted terms and conditions on the divestment.

As of July 1, 2008, young travelers under the age of 18 are now eligible to join Scandinavian Airlines' award-winning frequent flyer program, EuroBonus. Like all other members, they can now earn EuroBonus points on flights and use them for bonus trips, hotel nights and other offers.

SAS Scandinavian Airlines has launched a gay site on its international flysas.com website, thereby becoming the first European airline with a website dedicated to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender/transsexual (GLBT) market. Even more unique, the website builds on SAS' popular crew tips, providing tips from its own gay crew of the best that Stockholm and Copenhagen has to offer.

SAS is to be the Official Airline and Greening Partner at four international conferences up until the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009. SAS has undertaken to offset CO2 emissions from air travel for all conference delegates who travel with SAS.

SAS is launching two attractive direct routes for ski enthusiasts. Next winter, it will be possible to fly direct from Oslo to Innsbruck and Salzburg. The direct route to Salzburg will depart every Wednesday and Saturday from December 3 through March 28. The route to Innsbruck will depart on Tuesdays and Fridays during the period December 26 through March 27.

As the majority owner, SAS has bought out the other shareholders in the travel experience company GO. The company will be merged with the vacation and leisure unit at SAS.

SAS Norge has been instructed to pay NOK 132 million in compensation to Norwegian in a civil suit at Asker and Bærum District Court. "At the present time, we are focusing all our energy on handling the consequences of the Avinor strike, and we will review the terms of the judgment when Norwegian aviation has returned to normal. But it is highly probable that we will appeal this judgment," says Ola Strand, President of SAS Norge.

The Public Prosecutor in Stockholm has decided to discontinue the preliminary investigation regarding suspicions of the crime of "creating danger to another person" in conjunction with the SAS accidents involving Dash 8 Q400 aircraft in Aalborg and Vilnius on September 9, 2007 and September 12, 2007, respectively.

In a bid to further cut costs, SAS is now requesting a 10-percent price reduction on goods and services in a letter to its suppliers, an activity that is part of the framework of the company's Profit 2008 action program.

On Monday the 31t of March, SAS introduced flights between Stockholm-Arlanda Airport and Zagreb, Croatia. The line between Stockholm and Zagreb will be operated with departures on Mondays and Friday afternoons. From the 30th of April there will also be departures on Wednesdays.

SAS has today decided with immediate effect to withdraw Chinese cabin crew on flights between Copenhagen and Beijing. This measure follows the concern surrounding the situation for SAS's Chinese employed cabin crew.

On April 1, 2008, SAS and the Danish Pilots' Association (DPF), the Norwegian SAS Pilots' Association (NSF) and the Swedish Pilots' Association (SPF) signed a two-year collective agreement on salaries and general terms of service. The agreement period is April 1, 2007, through March 31, 2009. SAS now has multiyear agreements with all 39 trade union organizations in the Group.

SAS Sverige is offering its customers the possibility to book tickets to several European city destinations from SEK 399, including taxes and fees. The destinations that can be booked are London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Rome, Paris, Berlin, Edinburgh and Zagreb. From Gothenburg, the offer is available to London.

On 10 March Spanair launched its Spanairx4 product, which gives customers flying its domestic routes the option of choosing between four different flight classes: Business, Avant, Economy Plus and Economy. The company is thereby offering its passengers a time-saving product, which enhances flexibility and adds to the advantages offered by the four classes.

The SAS Group has signed a letter of intent with Amadeus, one of the leading suppliers of global distribution systems and IT solutions in the airline industry. The letter of intent means that parts of the SAS commercial IT platform will be replaced. These include sales, booking, ticketing, check-in and load-control.