Originally Posted by
the810
I don't see anything that would suggest that SAS won't (can't) switch to Flying Blue before AFKL acquires 50% in the airline. There is a commitment for SAS to join Flying Blue* once it happens, but it doesn't imply that they can't do it voluntarily before.
Sure, anything is possible but just because something is theoretically possible, that does not mean that it will happen. I am not sure that the comparisons with LO, OU or LG (you might as well have mentioned Air Calin or RO to keep it closer to home) are especially apposite: these were airlines that had (or were about to have) no proper FFP, either because they are too small to make a proper FFP viable (OU and LG) or because their FFP was disappearing, as in the case of the collapse of Swissair and the dismantling of Qualiflyer in the case of LO. SAS has an established FFP and the transition to a different FFP is. as
Digicola said, somewhat more complex and not directly comparable. Clearly, merging fo the FFPs is on the "to do" list but I would have thought that there would be other things higher up in that list, such as harmonising route network, controlling costs in core operation, etc..., hence why I agree with
DIgicola that a merging by end of 2025, let alone 2024, seems to me rather, ahem, 'ambitious'.
Anyway, do we have an exit date from *A yet? I don't know what the requirements for *A are but it is common to require a one-year notice for such things, so if we don't already have an exit date for *A, the lilkelihood if anything major happening on th FFP front before the end of 2024 seems low.