Scandinavian

Some interesting news in di.se today:

"SAS vill öppna
nya linjer till Kina
2006-03-09: Karin Grundberg
SAS vd Jörgen Lindegaard ser positivt på möjligheterna i Kina. Han vill starta två nya flyglinjer till landet.

”Det finns enorma möjligheter för SAS-gruppen i Kina. Just nu tittar vi på Stockholm-Peking och även Köpenhamn-Hongkong”, säger Jörgen Lindegaard vid Kina-seminariet på Berns i Stockholm.

SAS flyger för tillfället till Peking från Köpenhamn.
”Detta förklaras av att flest svenskar bor i södra Sverige. Men SAS nästa nya rutt blir just Stockholm-Peking”, säger Jörgen Lindegaard.

Lars Lindgren, chef för SAS International som ansvarar för nya rutter på SAS, fyller i: ”Vi tittar på att öppna rutten detta år.”.

SAS tittar försiktigt på denna typ av nya linjer eftersom de kostar cirka 1 miljard kronor i investering.

Jörgen Lindegaard ser fina möjligheter för SAS i samband med de olympiska spelen 2008 samt världsutställning i Shanghai 2010.

”Vi kommer att vara där. Vi ser fram emot det”, säger han.

För att täcka så mycket av Kina som möjligt avser SAS att bjuda in kinesiska flygbolag i flygalliansen Star Alliance."


SAS next new route will be Arlanda-Beijing, and propably Copenhagen-Hong Kong after that. I wonder if they have enough aircraft to start this two new routes?

kjsaw

ARN - BJS is great news. I have wanted to bo able to do that direct for a while.

CPH - HKG might simply be the new routing of the ex CPH - SIN .

esv

Thanks for the info...I just found a short article on another site that was a bit confusing.

jacob_m

SAS used to fly CPH-HKG a few years ago, but the route was suspended.
Any idea why? Howcome they restart it again?

Nice with another longhaul route from ARN...

oliver2002

ARN-PEK can actually be done by a 330 as it is similar to the ORD & EWR route... so perhaps SK will reduce the 330 service ARN to EWR a bit and send it to PEK instead:

http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=a...avy&MAP-STYLE=

FT Guest xyzpdq

That was a nice route - except with start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq the route became somewhat longer.
It was suspended as far i recall due to lack of passengers.
A re-opening could be due to 1) the focus on China/Far East stated several times by SAS and 2) They have a 340 sitting in BKK after April 1 for 9 hours. They might choose it to run to HKG 3-6 times a week.

AHO

hmm, I thought it would be ARN-PVG as there is already ARN-PEK by CA.

OT: Regarding Olympic Game Beijing 2008
Even though the main events are held mostly in Beijing, some games will be held in 6 cities in China! (Shanghai, Qingdao, Shenyang, Qinhuangdao and Tianjin + Hong Kong)

larsll

The article states that it will require 1MMSEK in investment. Do we smell some new aircraft?

kjsaw

It certainly points in that direction. Would be great to see an increased long haul fleet. I think SAS need to make some fleet investments to stay "Relevant".

They are my first choice when i can fly with them, but with such a small fleet they have limited routes, and those they do fly seem permanently full (which is great for their bottom line, but means i often have to look for other airlines to travel with).

larsll

I agree (for longhaul). I will fly OSL - ARN - ORD - CPH - OSL in May, and look forward to spend some miles to try out the old and the new C class respectively!

SK525

In today's Dagens Nyheter there is an interview with Jörgen Lindegard. In a passage it reads

"Nu kan vinst satsas på att expandera. Det finns planer på att investera i långdistansflottan. /.../ Först på listan står att byta ut MD-flottans plan. Tidigare hade SAS som mest 15 Boeing 767. Nu 11."

For those not reading Swedish this translates to

"Now the profit can be invested in expansion. There are plans to invest in the long-haul fleet. /.../ First on the list is a replacing of the MD aircraft. Previously SAS had up to 15 Boeing 767. Now they have 11.".

As usual when it comes to major Swedish newspapers, DN is more or less confused when it comes to aircraft models. However it's an indication that SAS thinks 15 long-haul aircraft would be a more adequate number than 11, which is indeed good news!

// SK 525

Paby

I thought available diversion airports along the route was the issue between Scandinavia and Asia why a four-engine aircraft could be required. The situation between Scandinavia and the US is completely different: KEF making the Atlantic easily crossable from Stockholm and then airpors literally everywhere when crossing into north american airspace.

And yes, I do hope these regulations forces SAS to go shop in Toulouse instead of cutting down on frequencies to the US...

ph-ndr

I believe it was suspended along with the opening of Chek Lap Kok, the new HKG airport, which had a much higher level of fees to operate in and out of.

FT Guest xyzpdq

Nope - I did positively fly SK into Chek Lap Kok. As far as i remember loads on that route was not particularly high. However, as with KIX the route was not in effect for long - before they closed it down.

oliver2002

OS does PEK with 332s once in a while and ETOPS is not a problem on the siberia route with 332. No wonder Lars was getting wet eyes about the 332 in our summer DO. 777s would do the same job, but if you have 11 330/340s that is not a real option.