SAS, the airline that completed a corporate restructuring in 2024 following years of financial difficulties, announced today that it is purchasing 40 long-haul aircraft from Airbus for nearly 100 billion kronor. This is SAS’s largest investment since its founding 80 years ago.
In July 2022, SAS filed for bankruptcy protection (known as Chapter 11) in the U.S. and corporate restructuring in Sweden. This followed several years of financial pressure and extensive pilot strikes. The restructuring process was not completed until late August 2024, which saved the company from bankruptcy and resulted in the airline gaining entirely new owners, including Air France-KLM, which owns 60.5 percent of SAS.
Along with the announcement of a major investment in new aircraft, SAS presented a new analysis of the potential socioeconomic impact of a significant expansion at Copenhagen Airport through 2030. The report quantifies, for the first time, the potential value that expanded international access through SAS’s planned growth could generate for Denmark, the Öresund region, and Scandinavia. The analysis shows that if SAS’s planned growth is realized, it will support an additional 25,000 jobs and contribute 25 billion Danish kroner to GDP by 2030. This is expected to increase the total number of jobs supported by SAS to 64,000 and raise its total contribution to GDP to 66 billion Danish kroner. In addition, the planned growth will support approximately 4,000 new jobs in southern Sweden. SAS President and CEO Anko van der Werff describes the initiative as a clear signal of the company’s confidence in the future and its ambition to strengthen Scandinavia’s global connections.
– This is the largest investment in our company’s history and a clear signal of our confidence in the future. At the same time, the analysis we’re presenting today demonstrates the broader value of international access. Strong global connections create opportunities for businesses, support jobs, attract investment, and strengthen our region’s competitiveness.
The aircraft, which are Airbus 300-900neo and Airbus A330-300 models, respectively, will replace older aircraft and lay the groundwork for an expanded long-haul network. The order is reported to have a list price of over 10 billion USD (approximately 100 billion Swedish kronor). Together with last year’s order of 55 regional aircraft from Embraer and an ongoing renewal of the Airbus A320neo fleet, this deal means that SAS’s aircraft fleet is undergoing its most significant modernization in decades. Together, these investments provide the flexibility to meet future demand, strengthen international reach, and support SAS’s ambition to combine growth with continued progress in operational efficiency and sustainability. This includes continued collaboration with industry partners to accelerate the development of renewable aviation fuels, including e-SAF.
