The FINANCIAL — SAS is boosting its offer to Scandinavian frequent flyers with more than 60,000 seats between Copenhagen and New York in 2016.
The additional evening departure will be operated by PrivatAir with a reconfigured Boeing 737 that has most recently flown the Stavanger-Houston route, according to SAS.
From the start of the SAS winter program in late October, SAS will fly twice daily to New York from Copenhagen to further reinforce its position as the number one Scandinavian carrier:
“SAS is by far the largest and most dedicated airline serving Scandinavia and the USA. We are delighted to be able to offer this evening departure that is particularly appealing to travelers wanting to spend a full day in Copenhagen or New York before flying. People traveling for business purposes often prefer this timetable,” says Eivind Roald, Executive Vice President Commercial at SAS.
SAS is currently servicing Copenhagen-New York with a daily mid-day departure. The new SAS flight will also depart daily – except Tuesdays – at 18.25 from Copenhagen and return from New York at 22.55. Tickets go on sale on 16 September.
SAS will continue these double daily New York flights next year and so offer more than 60,000 extra seats between New York and Copenhagen in 2016, which corresponds to approximately 25 % increase.
Closure of oil route
As a consequence of reduced activity in the oil industry, SAS has experienced a severe decrease in demand and thus passenger loads on the Stavanger Houston route. Hence, SAS no longer has sound commercial grounds for continuing this niche route.
“The oil route came out of creative and constructive product development between SAS and our core clients in the oil industry. We have done all we can to make it viable, however, we have had to accept that the downturn in the industry unfortunately is also impacting us, hence our decision to switch the aircraft to Copenhagen-New York, where the market offers far more potential right now,” says Eivind Roald.
The last flight from Stavanger will depart on 23 October returning in Stavanger on 24 October. SAS will do its utmost to make alternative arrangements for all customers who have flight bookings after these dates.
“I am naturally sad to disappoint our customers who have been loyal users of the route and who will no longer be able to fly directly between these two destinations,” says Roald.
SAS will increase its capacity with approximately 20% from Stavanger to Copenhagen by switching aircraft type from CRJ900 to Airbus 320 and 321 on several departures.
Product and timetable
The route is operated by PrivatAir on behalf of SAS with a Boeing 737 that up until the end of the year will be configured with Business seats only, 44 seats. The aircraft will then be reconfigured with 20 Business seats and 66 Go seats. The service will correspond to a full SAS inflight product to overseas destinations except with an iPad entertainment system.
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