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Business Round-Up: SAS fighting back as it takes to the skies again
Anna Maryam Smith & Ambika Venkatesh
May 29th, 2020
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SAS intends to fight back (Photo: Cph airport)
After suffering major losses in the second quarter of its 2019-20 financial year due to the Coronavirus Crisis, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is fighting back and reopening two new routes to the US from June 10.
The aviation industry is facing a global crisis, and SAS has been spared no mercy, emerging out of the three months concluding April 30 with a loss of over 2.4 billion kroner.
After grounding 135 of its 150 aircraft during the lockdown, the number of passengers fell by 60 percent in March, and then by 96 percent in April.
Savings plan
In order to stem the bleeding, SAS plans to cut 5,000 employees, of which 1,700 are employees in Denmark.
Additionally, the airline, which is partly owned by the Danish state, has outlined plans to save 3 billion kroner by the end of 2022.
More flights
As capacity increases over the next couple of weeks, and travel restrictions are eased, SAS plans to launch an additional flight to Aarhus from June 2, along with services from Copenhagen to Amsterdam, Bergen and Stavanger from June 8.
And then on June 10, SAS will open up two long-haul flights from Copenhagen to Chicago and New York.
“In addition to the destinations and routes that are now being added to the traffic program, SAS plans to offer more flights and destinations as the various countries’ travel guides are eased and demand for travel increases in Scandinavia and globally,” noted SAS.
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