rumble

I assume there are still many travelers there who need to be returned? Once that is accomplished they will probably close.

highupinthesky

I don't know where they have their information from and it won't be the first time they have been misinformed if the information is not correct. But I'm 99.999% sure SK will continue flying to Japan. It might be reduced to 1 rotation per week at some point in time, but I'm pretty sure they will continue the flights and move to HND on March 30.

SKT-DK

I saw that post from Insideflyer as well, and it does indeed seem quite dubious - and without any source, as is not the first time either.

I think the list that SAS maintains by day is the most trustworthy source we have at this moment (and I suspect that the Insideflyer "article" was informed by this list on one given day, and not representative of the situation going forward): https://www.flysas.com/en/traffic-in...celed-flights/

FlyingMoose

It has nothing to do with being inhumane, it's a power play with the unions and addressing one of the major challenges SAS has competing in an international market. The basic labour cost in Scandinavia is too high and those same employees have no moral obligations to strike and disrupt the economy and airline operations every time their union asks for more money and agreements expire. SAS not showing any muscle in these times would not be in the interest of the success of the business or its very near term challenges. Businesses don't get these opportunities very often, especially in the Nordics. Not acting also keeps the consensus and general assumptions around labour protection and union culture alive and the disastrous impacts those have on the longterm development of Scandinavian economies.

GUWonder

Repatriation routes. Lots of Scandinavians live full time or part time around there.

highupinthesky

I'm glad you are not the CEO of SK.

SKT-DK

Me too! - I will not even dignify his response with a reply. Simply too ridiculous...!

LiHS

Unsurprisingly the Swedish&Danish governments announced SEK 3billion in guarantees for SAS. Source in Danish; dr.dk

highupinthesky

Agree it's not a surprise, just as it's not a surprise the Norwegian government seems to be ready to bailout DY.

CPH-Flyer

I guess the three governments split it between them, that's why SK did not get money from Norwsy?

I think it is only reasonable that the governments carry a load here. It is not just about a company surviving. It is about infrastructure when we have to restart the wirld

I saw the US airlines asked for 50 billion USD. That seems a bit high.

highupinthesky

SK didn't get any money from any of the governments. It's a guarantee if they should need it. Norway is not part of the deal, because they sold all their shares in SK a couple of years ago. DK and SE split the guarantee 50/50 between them.

CPH-Flyer

I know it is a guarantee.

By that logic, Norway should not be guaranteeing DY since they don't own any part of DY. I am sure there have been consultations, since both SK and DY are pretty big in the countries.

A government don't actually need to own a share in a company to put up a guarantee. The German government provided a bridge loan to Condor to allow survival from the Thomas Cook mess.

I wonder if Norway only want to support the local parts, or the Irish and other companies will be included as well.

highupinthesky

The rumors say Norwegian will issue new shares and the Norwegian governments will buy most of the them. I assume the shares will be issues in the holding company as last time.

I doubt the DK or SE government will waste much money on DY. Specially not after they moved all the long haul flights from CPH and ARN to OSL and UK last summer and this winter. DY isn't really providing any critical infrastructure for DK nor SE and actually not NO either. SK have the contracts for most of the government sponsored routes in NO.

highupinthesky

One DK news paper wrote today that the NO government have a put forward a guarantee of 1.5 Billion NOK for SK, 3 Billion NOK for DY and 1,5 Billion for other airlines in NO. For all the guarantees, there are various condition attached. For DY one of the conditions are that find other co sponsors too.

supersympa

(Dow Jones) -- Norway late Thursday unveiled a package of measures worth up to 6 billion Norwegian kroner ($519 million) to save the country's airline industry, with half of it going to Norwegian Air Shuttle.

Scandinanvian rival SAS AB will get NOK1.5 billion under the deal, while the remaining NOK1.5 billion goes to Wideroe and other Norwegian airlines.
The government support is in the form of credit guarantees to help companies access market funding, but comes with a series of conditions attached.
Norwegian Air said it welcomed the move, having made repeated pleas for government help amid the collapse in demand and enforced travel restrictions from the coronavirus pandemic. It has canceled 85% of its flights and temporarily layoff 90% of its staff, comprising 7,300 jobs.

Since mid--February shares in Norwegian Air have plunged from around NOK40 a share to NOK11.45 at market close on Thursday on worries about its balance-sheet strength.
The company will get up to NOK3 billion in credit guarantees, with NOK300 million immediately available. However, the airline must get its creditors to waive their interest and repayment demands to qualify for a further NOK1.2 billion, with the final NOK1.5 billion becoming available when the airline improves its equity ratio.
"Norwegian had financial challenges even before the corona crisis, and with this arrangement we are clear that both owners and lenders must contribute to a better financial situation for the company, if the state is to provide guarantees," the government said.

The state said it will contribute 90% of the guarantees, provided that external banks, credit institutions or other commercial counterparties provide the remaining 10%.
"We have been clear that we need liquidity, and we are grateful for that is what we are now being offered," said Norwegian Chief Executive Jacob Schram.
"Now we need to spend some time to familiarize ourselves with the conditions, but we can guarantee that we will do everything in our power to meet the requirements," he added.
The governments of Sweden and Denmark have previously pledged to provide SEK1.5 billion each in credit guarantees to SAS after it halted most of its flights and temporarily reduced its workforce by 10,000--representing 90% of its staff.