Direct service to SIN from CPH
 

while I agree than SIN might be a poor choice given the competition and code share agreement I can't follow your second argument?

CPH-SIN would be a new destination from an established hub, right?

South America or Africa would be interesting as there is nothing available without connecting to other carriers in Europe - but probably not profitable :)

This is not rumors.

"We are planning new direct routes from Oslo and Stockholm to North America and Asia, starting in autumn 2015". Rickard Gustafson, SAS President and CEO. June 18th.

Fortunatly official statements confirm that IC routes will be more spread out, and that CPH won't be the only IC hub. SAS can't compete with moving all IC pax through CPH, so for the future of the company this is a very good thing.

Actually, I see as a bad thing for SK. The cost of operating more than one IC hub with their size is too high. For the cost side they should focus on one hub.

The non-privately owned part of SK is still owned 2/7th by Denmark, 2/7th by Norway and 3/7th by Sweden, so there will most likely be a typical Scandinavian solution in place. Which means: everyone gets an intercontinental share (if it's finally being decided that Norwegians actually *do* want to fly intercontinental, which SK has denied for decades. The result is that the long haul market in Norway is now owned for about 90% by other parties than SK)

Anyway, if Rickard has any balls in his trousers, then he opens up routes to India and Pakistan. There are about a million immigrants of those countries in Scandinavia and even more family members left in those countries. Currently the route to OSL is the one that keeps PIA alive. Or he honors the legacy of Braathens SAFE and opens up routes to South America again.

The SIN issue has been discussed in the 'fun with the in flight' topic a few months back. It's still listed as a SAS destination. On the other hand, the new Compressed Charcoal level is still being advertised as new, IAH is still listed as destination that's coming soon and a few other outdated things are also still listed. I guess they just don't update that part of the magazine too often... :)

They started operations to IAH the other day from SVG.

I personally don't mind switching for some langhauls destinations in OSL or ARN. I have to fly indirect most of them anyways. But I think it will be disastrous financially for the airline.

I will be even more frustrated if opening new longhauls from OSL and ARN means just more connections to old destinations, and no new destinations for the SK network. Then I loose all hope in this resurrection plan they are running.

An SK route from OSL (or CPH) to SIN + the new and upgraded C cabin would be a huge incentive for me to return to SK, so I cross my fingers.

I remember SAS did fly to SIN in the past, with a Stopover in BKK.

Until they are loaded in the system or announced with actual route - and start date - I consider it rumors. At least they are not firm.

I am still baffled that SAS is seriously considerin operating a 3 IC hub system with just over a dozen IC planes. This is an extremely costly solution. And do not offer the customer more choice.
I do not need any more mid-afternoon arrivals into EWR. I need new destinations (HKG, DEL, SEA, BOS, etc) or added frequencies where there is a true difference in timing (both departure and arrival - ORD is an example, so is CPH-EWR with the noon and the evening departure).

Get some balls SAS and focus in on one hub - and make it a really good one.

Fully agree! Purely egoistic, I naturally would hope for CPH if it were the case ;)

That's always the argument from the CPH based crowd, unfortunately you basically already get to enjoy all the good routes and it's hurting SAS specifically at ARN and OSL that people are opting for the competition due to a lack of long haul. They feel under served and unappreciated. On top of that we haven't exactly been seeing the one hub strategy work for them either. It's time for SK to get some balls and show that they can easily compete with DY's inferior product at ARN and OSL, even though they do serve locations such as FLL, LAX, SF and BKK. People are done transferring at EWR and ORD to horrible domestic flights.

I perfectly see your point and market wise I also think you are right, DY is a good example on that. I don't live en Scandinavia but I fly from Far East to/from OSL (and CPH now and then), 15-20 times a year. I would love coming back to SK, but they need to improve their long haul product first, which means daily departures to/from places like BKK, HKG and SIN, with arrival early morning so you don't waste they day on board.

For me, I'd rather that they made one solid LH base (which in case probably would be CPH), instead of trying to please everyone in both OSL, ARL and CPH. I don't mind the short hop from OSL down to CPH to change plane, but I know most Norwegians do not agree on that :D

This. And the horrible american domestic procedures.

For comparison, I imagine going to China, it is easier to connect at HEL for many final asian destinations than connecting in Chinese cities to local flights which are always hours late for that matter

Mention a couple of.airlines that operate long haul with a profitably from more than one hub with less that 15 planes. SK certainly does not, DY has yet to prove that they can. There may be a few charter companies that can do it. But it is a slightly different business model than the scheduled.
It is not a matter of whether or not there is IC traffic to be made out of Oslo and Stockholm, it is a matter of can it be done profitably with a 15 to 20 plane fleet from 2 or 3 locations. SK never actually tried the 1 hub strategy, the always ran with a semi 1 hub strategy. And lost money on it. Lufthansa with their fleet size could not make money out of Hamburg or Düsseldorf long-haul, so they are purely Frankfurt and Munich, and don't tell me Hamburg does not generate a lot of IC traffic. Get partners in on JV to fly the two cities, make an effective hub in the third. It does not matter which one is the hub, but stop splitting the small fleet. Or get another 15 planes and do two hubs.