SAS plans long-haul expansion as widebody fleet grows by up to 40 Airbus jets
SAS intends to broaden its long-haul network using new Airbus widebodies, with a focus on Asia and Latin America while adding depth to existing routes. The carrier's chief commercial officer said the current long-haul fleet is too small to exploit available opportunities.
Airbus A330 (all variants)Airbus A350
SAS intends to grow its long-haul network with more Airbus widebodies, chief commercial officer Paul Verhagen said at the World Aviation Festival in Lisbon on 14 October.
The Scandinavian carrier agreed at the end of June to buy 18 A330neo aircraft with Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, part of wider plans to add 40 Airbus widebodies. It has also secured A330-300s ahead of the new aircraft's arrival.
Verhagen called the widebody order long overdue. SAS flies 15 long-haul aircraft, among them a dozen A330 and A350 widebodies, in a fleet of roughly 145 aircraft. "We are very under-indexed on long-haul," he said.
The airline wants more spread and depth in its network. It is heavily focused on the United States today, has no presence in Latin America, and only a very limited footprint in Asia. Verhagen said SAS would like to fly more to Asia, pointing to strong demand from Europe to Asia that bypasses the Middle East because of geopolitical challenges there. Service to Haneda and Seoul Incheon will increase, he said, but that is all the current fleet allows, since Europe-Asia flying takes up a lot of aircraft.
SAS also plans to use the extra long-haul capacity to build in existing markets by adding frequencies where it already flies. It sees growth in the US market, where it aims to benefit from membership in the Air France-KLM transatlantic joint venture with Virgin Atlantic.
Sources
- flightglobal.comSAS targets ‘spread and depth’ through long-haul expansion