Oct 3, 2023, 2:27 pm

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SAS plans to leave Star Alliance and join SkyTeam

On the 3rd of October SAS announced further steps as part of their SAS FORWARD plan. SAS has raised nearly 12.9 billion SEK as part of their Chapter 11 restructuring process. This will mean current shareholders are wiped out and the company will be delisted.

The new owners include Air France-KLM, Castlelake, Lind Invest and the Danish state.

As such, SAS plans to leave Star Alliance and join Air France-KLM's Sky Team alliance by summer 2024.

FAQ:

What does this mean for EuroBonus?

Eurobonus members can still book travel on Star Alliance carriers until the end of the transition period.
~~Future affiliation with Air France-KLM's Flying Blue frequent flyer programme has not yet been decided.~~
In the meantime the agreement between SAS and the investing consortium includes a provision for preparations of merging EuroBonus into FlyingBlue once AF-KLM owns more than 50% of the outstanding shares. It thus seems very likely that EuroBonus will ultimately be merged into FlyingBlue, the timeline and details of this are, however, still unclear.

SAS EuroBonus FAQ:
On October 3rd 2023, SAS announced the intention to eventually join SkyTeam and leave Star Alliance. For now the EuroBonus program remains unchanged. SAS will keep you informed about what to expect over the coming months and will provide updates continuously on the EuroBonus website.

1. What will happen to EuroBonus?

No changes are being made to the program and EuroBonus will remain SAS's loyalty program. As a member, you will continue to earn and use points on SAS as today. Your status and benefits as a EuroBonus member when you fly with SAS will not be impacted. • Delivering an attractive loyalty program to SAS's loyal customers will remain the top priority for us and our new owners, even after SAS changes ownership and alliance. SAS intends to eventually leave Star Alliance and join SkyTeam, and adjustments to the program will be made accordingly. As long as SAS is a member of Star Alliance, EuroBonus members can continue to enjoy the same benefits as they do today when flying on a Star Alliance partner airline.

2. What will happen to my EuroBonus points?

No changes are made to your EuroBonus points. You will keep all points earned until now and will continue to earn and use points just like today.

3. What will happen to my EuroBonus tier status?

No changes are made to your EuroBonus tier status. You will retain your status and your progress made during your qualification period. Requirements to reach each tier level and benefits included in each tier remain the same.

4. What will happen to my EuroBonus Lifetime Gold status?

No changes are made to the EuroBonus Lifetime Gold program. EuroBonus Lifetime Gold memberships will be honored even after SAS joins SkyTeam, and all progress made towards Lifetime Gold will be kept.

5. Do I keep my status benefits when I travel on another Star Alliance partner airline?

While SAS remains part of Star Alliance, you will enjoy the same status benefits as you do today when you fly with a Star Alliance partner • When SAS eventually joins SkyTeam, you will also be able to enjoy similar status benefits across the extensive SkyTeam network.

6. Can I still earn points when I fly on another Star Alliance carrier?

While SAS remains part of Star Alliance, you will be able to earn EuroBonus Basic points when flying on a Star Alliance airline partner flights

7. What will happen to my existing Star Alliance award bookings?

Existing bookings remain unchanged and will be honored even if you fly after SAS eventually leaves Star Alliance

8. Can I still use my points to redeem on other Star Alliance carriers?

While SAS remains part of Star Alliance, we will allow you to use EuroBonus points to book Star Alliance award trips

9. Can I still earn points on credits cards and other non-airline partners?

10. Can I still use my EuroBonus points on non-airline partners such as rental cars or hotels?

11. What about other Star Alliance partner members flying on SAS?

While SAS remains part of Star Alliance, members of other Star Alliance member programs will keep their status benefits while flying on SAS, and will be able to spend their miles/points on SAS flights

Will there be opportunities to match with other programs to remain in *A?

Most likely yes, but it will have yet to be seen what opportunities will present itself.

Will AF - KLM take over control of SAS?

After a minimum of two years and pending regulatory permission, AF - KLM may increase its stake to grant it controlling power over SAS. However, the current situation indicates that there are agreements within the consortium, which would de facto give AF - KLM control with regards to certain aspects of SAS operations (as seen by the announcement to leave *A and join ST).

What is the ratio of the new ownership?

Castlelake: 32%
AF - KLM: 19.9%
Danish State: 25.8%
Lind Invest: 8.6%
Remaining equity to be distributed to existing creditors.

What happens to existing SAS shares?

This process makes current SAS shares lose their value. Some existing shareholders expressed displeasure about the decision and are questioning wether an American court can rule on making existing shares of SAS lose their value. It remains to be seen if legal action is taken.

Will SAS change their HUB strategy or move their HQ to Denmark?

This is as of yet unconfirmed but it seems likely that SAS might focus on CPH and move its HQ.

Will SAS join the SkyTeam transatlantic Joint Venture?

This is the stated goal of AF-KLM CEO, but will require regulatory approval.

How was this decided?

There was a bidding process and two bids were received. Private Equity company Apollo Global Invest had expressed interest in taking control of the airline.
The decision on the bids was taken roughly 30 minutes before the press conference on October 3rd as stated by Dilling.

What is the process now?

Nothing changes immediately. As of now SAS is still a member of Star Alliance and will continue to operate normally for the foreseeable future.
The announcements made today reflect the future plans, which are subject to approval by many different entities and regulatory bodies. These include the courts in the US to approve the Chapter 11 process, courts in Sweden which will have to approve the restructuring (and invalidation of shares), as well as the following, as taken out of the SAS press release: "(...) antitrust authorities, civil aviation authorities, the European Commission, and EFTA Surveillance Authority (as applicable), SAS leaving Star Alliance, the implementation of a Swedish Reorganization at the SAS AB level, and other customary conditions. There currently remains uncertainty in respect of satisfying such conditions and obtaining required approvals (...)".
We should hear more about if this is going through in the next couple of weeks.
SAS plans to exit Chapter 11 in Q2 2024 and leave Star Alliance and join SkyTeam before summer 2024.

Sources and links:

- SAS Press Release
- Communication E-Mail sent to EB members can be found in Post 114
- E24 (Information with regards to EuroBonus. Thanks to matin for the find in Post 64)
- Reuters
- AF-KLM Press Release
- SAS EuroBonus FAQ (Thanks again to matin for the find in Post 237)
- DInside on Merger of EuroBonus into FlyingBlue (Thanks to Frederik74 for the find in Post 473)

SAS to leave Star Alliance and join SkyTeam [eff. 01 Sep 2024]

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Oct 7, 2023, 9:46 am

#316

criced

Join Date: May 2016

Posts: 503

Quote:

Originally Posted by maestro1981

Hi All,

At Gdańsk GDN airport now, flying SAS as a *G member. Been denied access to the lounge here and told by both check-in staff and lounge staff that as of two days ago, *G members flying SAS no longer have lounge access due to this. Thought it beneficial to write here for others to know.

That have been the case for atleast 5 years at GDN flying SAS as a *Gold or EBG/EBD-member, no matter what staff says.

maestro1981 and dark_phoenix like this.

Oct 7, 2023, 10:28 am

#317

hhdl

Join Date: Oct 2019

Programs: Flying Blue, Hilton Honors, Amtrak Guest Rewards

Posts: 2,484

My suspicion is that the strategy for complying with the AMS flight cap is to cut back the KLM Cityhopper services to Germany/Nordics/Baltics/Eastern Europe to what can largely be justified on AMS origin/destination demand (e.g. 4-5 flights a day becomes 2-3, if not zero), with CPH and SK picking up the gateway to North-Central/Eastern Europe role.

GUWonder, jamesbrownontheroad, futuramadramallama and 1 others like this.

Oct 7, 2023, 10:34 am

#318

herwig

Join Date: Jun 2016

Location: VNO

Programs: Eurobonus Diamond

Posts: 111

Quote:

Originally Posted by barouque

As a frequent traveller between Europe and Asia, this is bad news!
SkyTeam doesn't have the same level of coverage in Asia vs. *A.
To be frank, ST is simply the weakest in the top 3 alliances, if you are using specific route they offer, lucky you. if you are a globetrotter, find another carrier to continue in *A. I am done with SAS.

Anyone could shed some light on how to match my SAS gold to another airline in *A?

I don't see it that bad. SAS could partner very well with China Eastern in Shanghai. Garuda and Korean Air (after merger with Asiana) are also two very good members and then there are Vietnam Air, China Airlines and Xiamen Air. So I think it is a very comparable offering to Star Alliance (Air China, Shenzhen, Air India, Thai, Singapore, ANA and EVA) in my opinion in terms of network. Maybe India is lacking. Oneworld would have been a disaster with no (mainland) China cover and no India cover.

hhdl likes this.

Oct 7, 2023, 11:43 am

#319

nacho

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Aug 2010

Location: CPH

Programs: UAMP S, TK M&S E (*G), Marriott LTP, IHG P, SK EBG

Posts: 11,170

Quote:

Originally Posted by herwig

Exactly, ST covers Asia pretty well except Japan. CX is kind of covering China (with connection via HKG).

Oct 7, 2023, 12:08 pm

#320

herwig

Join Date: Jun 2016

Location: VNO

Programs: Eurobonus Diamond

Posts: 111

Quote:

Originally Posted by nacho

Exactly, ST covers Asia pretty well except Japan. CX is kind of covering China (with connection via HKG).

I disagree with CX covering China. This is just not true. CX is in my opinion a competitor to Singapore Airlines, focusing in particular on international travel rather than the China mainland market. China Eastern has about 20 secondary hubs and focus cities within China mainland. Also Air China has 15 secondary hubs and focus cities within China mainland, but CX not a single one. For an airline market that covers a territory with almost same size as the USA and a much larger customer base, it is very weak for Oneworld to "only" offer a connection via HongKong.

Marschel, futuramadramallama and TravellingChris like this.

Oct 7, 2023, 12:38 pm

#321

nacho

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Aug 2010

Location: CPH

Programs: UAMP S, TK M&S E (*G), Marriott LTP, IHG P, SK EBG

Posts: 11,170

Quote:

Originally Posted by herwig

That used to be what CathayDragon's role. It's still a question how CX is going forward (maybe codeshare with CA). Hainan Air is still not part of any alliance and I do see them in the US and Europe.

Oct 7, 2023, 1:36 pm

#322

herwig

Join Date: Jun 2016

Location: VNO

Programs: Eurobonus Diamond

Posts: 111

Quote:

Originally Posted by nacho

That used to be what CathayDragon's role. It's still a question how CX is going forward (maybe codeshare with CA). Hainan Air is still not part of any alliance and I do see them in the US and Europe.

Hainan went bankrupt during COVID and is now only a shadow of its former glory. If Oneworld would want to gain real presence in China, then they need to bid for China's largest airline, China Southern.

Sorry for switching off topic - should not be discussed in an Eurobonus forum...

Oct 7, 2023, 8:36 pm

#323

TravellingChris

Join Date: Mar 2023

Location: Under the Big Oak Tree

Programs: Air Bukovina Elite, Circassian Air Gold, Carthaginian Airlines Platinum

Posts: 563

Quote:

Originally Posted by nacho

Exactly, ST covers Asia pretty well except Japan. CX is kind of covering China (with connection via HKG).

I have to respectfully disagree. Aside from Korea (where SkyTeam has the marquee property in Korean Air) and Taiwan, SkyTeam carriers are also-rans in pretty much every other area. Garuda and Vietnam Airlines are far behind Singapore Airlines, THAI and even Cathay Pacific.

Visa issues make Vietnam Airlines of little to no value as a connecting partner and its hubs useless for significant transit. By contrast, Changi and Suvarnabhumi are two of the key transit airports in SE Asia. (Visa issues are also what made SAUDIA and Aeroflot useless as SkyTeam partners for connecting traffic). And no one is using Garuda for anything other than flights to, from and within Indonesia (this of course is more an issue of geography than anything else).

In mainland China, Star has the most important carrier in Air China. China Eastern's coverage is less significant and the exit of China Southern was another blow to Chinese domestic coverage within SkyTeam.

The biggest knock on SkyTeam is that they don't have an Indian member. Pairing up with a LCC (IndiGo) on an ad-hoc basis smacks of desperation. Perhaps what Air France/KLM should have done instead of investing in SAS would have been to buy a chunk of Vistara. The fact that Vistara is about to be merged out of existence--to the detriment of both domestic and international customers flying to India--is deeply regrettable.

lsquare and futuramadramallama like this.

Oct 7, 2023, 8:42 pm

#324

TravellingChris

Join Date: Mar 2023

Location: Under the Big Oak Tree

Programs: Air Bukovina Elite, Circassian Air Gold, Carthaginian Airlines Platinum

Posts: 563

Quote:

Originally Posted by herwig

SkyTeam also has no domestic Indian coverage aside from an embarrassing tie-up some members have with a Low Cost Carrier--"we chose you because we had no other options." For someone who flies into India in, say, business class on a full-service airline like Air France, being shoehorned onto an all-economy IndiGo domestic flight is an incentive to switch one's business to Lufthansa and Air India.

Oct 8, 2023, 1:57 am

#325

FlyingMoose

Join Date: Oct 2011

Programs: EuroBonus Diamond, Delta Skymiles 360, BAEC LTG, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Ambassador

Posts: 2,881

Quote:

Originally Posted by barouque

If you fly often enough in Asia, you would understand why SkyTeam is no match with *A. Ability to reach one destination is one thing, frequency/timing/price/customer service are totally different.
ANA has much wider international routes than Japan Airline, SQ services and aircraft are good. TH, Air China, Air India are simply the Tier 1 in respective countries.
Not a hard thing to admit ST only have Tier 2/3 members.

I mostly care about how I get to Asia and then use any of the many options on getting domestic or intra-region done. Also most and definitely most of my business travel are major locations. KE to ICN, KL/AF to HND or NRT, they fly to SIN/KUL/BKK/CGK etc. China Air to TPE. AF/KL fly to all major places in India I go to, DEL/BLR. I value having two night flights on itineraries to Asia a lot more than whether I need to make a brief connection somewhere. I really appreciate how AFKL typically rotates their routes to Asia so you have outbound overnight on KL and outbound return on AF for example (ICN is a great example). KL also has a good history of doing fifth freedom routes like AMS-ICN-KIX, AMS-KUL-CGK, AMS-HKG-MNL that aren't possible with directs.

While I agree that ANA and SQ are great airlines, getting to Japan from Europe right now is no joke and you don't fly there to connect. Singapore makes sense if you go to South East Asia or Australia but can be mimicked with ST. I'm also interested to see what Saudi is doing the next few years and how that further plays into the ST collaboration as there are absolutely routes where they make sense. I would argue the bigger miss for ST is Virgin Australia going domestic only in the pandemic. They were one of my favorite options on LAX-SYD or SIN-SYD.

Oct 8, 2023, 6:47 am

#326

barouque

Join Date: Oct 2023

Posts: 4

Quote:

Originally Posted by herwig

Kind of enjoy this comparison, so indulge myself for a fun discussion here.

When we speak of Asia, you have to take the large and growing countries into consideration, which is China, India and Indonesia. Here *A wins in China and India, lose in Indonesia. Air China is clearly the biggest, period. Vietnam is no match with Thai, only throw in as a bonus.
Also the mature markets, Japan, another win by *A，ANA is more international and bigger than JA. Korea, with the merger of the big two, it is a tie.

In US, I like Delta. In Europe, *A fleet is stronger.

dark_phoenix likes this.

Oct 8, 2023, 6:51 am

#327

barouque

Join Date: Oct 2023

Posts: 4

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyingMoose

As a SQ Gold for 10+ years, I switched to SAS gold before Covid till now. you could understand my pain at least when connecting to Australia....

Oct 8, 2023, 7:30 am

#328

FlyingMoose

Join Date: Oct 2011

Programs: EuroBonus Diamond, Delta Skymiles 360, BAEC LTG, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Ambassador

Posts: 2,881

Quote:

Originally Posted by barouque

As a SQ Gold for 10+ years, I switched to SAS gold before Covid till now. you could understand my pain at least when connecting to Australia....

I can't tell what your origin airport (or destination in Austrlia) is but the fastest way from ARN/OSL/HEL to Australia is with the ME2 or TG. From CPH you have SQ and EQ as well. If you're just after an easy to achieve *A Gold tier then switch to A3 once SK moves to ST. I've done a very considerable amount of ARN-CPH-SIN-MEL (and brief ARN-DME-SIN-MEL) over the years but have also just as easy done ARN-AMS-SIN-MEL or ARN-AMS-KUL-MEL, they often hardly matter in total time travelled. There are so many options to get to Australia that comparing *A and ST doesn't matter much, though *A has the obvious advantage of SQ. For me a priority was to avoid Qantas.

Oct 8, 2023, 10:19 pm

#329

nussle

Join Date: Jul 2014

Location: 280 from HMR DVOR

Programs: EBG

Posts: 337

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyingMoose

For me a priority was to avoid Qantas.

Everybody and their dog is doing their best to avoid QANTAS....for bloody good reasons.

But, back on topic, SAS bouncing out of the star alliance is a royal pain the the .... For trips to Australia I love Singapore air. I much prefer it over TK who will put you on QANTAS for the second leg and QANTAS is a airline to be absolutely avoided.

I, like lots of others are kinda pissed that SAS has done this to us but at the moment I am waiting to see what they put on the table. However in the spirit of most changes to a loyality program its highly unlikely to be better.

Oct 8, 2023, 11:36 pm

#330

Gnopps

Join Date: Jan 2003

Location: HEL

Programs: *G, used to be with TK but left due to their corruption and political ties

Posts: 4,414

Quote:

Originally Posted by oliver2002

The photoshoppers are probably already cracking their knuckles and getting ready to generate some EBD cards and statements

Hopefully they get caught, you can see the actual status of anyone in the GDS.