24 September 2009
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), which is due to start its winter operations on October 29 from Dubai, is mulling a code share agreement with one of the member airlines of the Star Alliance for daily flights, a senior executive said.
The airline will start with three weekly flights on the Dubai-Copenhagen sector.
"This is the third year that Scandinavian Airlines will operate to Dubai during the winter. These operations will continue until the end of March. We would be happy to extend the operations beyond that date to daily flights if the economic conditions are right," Albert Henschel, SAS General Manager in the UAE, told Emirates Business.
"Even as the global economy is facing a tough challenge in this recession, the Middle East market continues to be robust when it comes to air travel, and I am looking forward to positioning SAS for travel to and from Scandinavia," he added.
"Dubai's connectivity through the numerous airlines flying to and from the emirate makes our service from Copenhagen attractive for Scandinavians looking to travel and connect with the rest of the Middle East."
An Airbus A340 with a three-class configuration, business, economy extra and economy, will operate on the Dubai-Copenhagen route. Henschel said the economy extra class has been popular with passengers, who do not want to travel business but still prefer an upgraded service. He said the airline would be coming out with a very aggressive introductory fare to encourage Middle East traffic to Scandinavia. He expected tourism from the Middle East to Scandinavian countries to grow, as attractions such as the Northern lights and the Norwegian fjords were unique to the region.
SAS is the combined national carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and operates out of three hubs, Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm. It carried a total of 1.8 million passengers on its total network - domestic, European and intercontinental - during August, down by 16.9 per cent over the same period last year.
While the intercontinental traffic component decreased 19 per cent this August compared to 2008, capacity was down by 21.3 per cent as a second aircraft in the global fleet was grounded. This resulted in an improved load factor of 2.6 p u that reached 89.3 per cent.
Traffic on European routes decreased by 19.5 per cent, but the load factor improved by a strong 5.3 p u. The European capacity was reduced mainly from Norway due to closure of unprofitable leisure routes. Intra-Scandinavian traffic decreased 16 per cent and capacity fell by 24.3 per cent.
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), which is due to start its winter operations on October 29 from Dubai, is mulling a code share agreement with one of the member airlines of the Star Alliance for daily flights, a senior executive said.
The airline will start with three weekly flights on the Dubai-Copenhagen sector.
"This is the third year that Scandinavian Airlines will operate to Dubai during the winter. These operations will continue until the end of March. We would be happy to extend the operations beyond that date to daily flights if the economic conditions are right," Albert Henschel, SAS General Manager in the UAE, told Emirates Business.
"Even as the global economy is facing a tough challenge in this recession, the Middle East market continues to be robust when it comes to air travel, and I am looking forward to positioning SAS for travel to and from Scandinavia," he added.
"Dubai's connectivity through the numerous airlines flying to and from the emirate makes our service from Copenhagen attractive for Scandinavians looking to travel and connect with the rest of the Middle East."
An Airbus A340 with a three-class configuration, business, economy extra and economy, will operate on the Dubai-Copenhagen route. Henschel said the economy extra class has been popular with passengers, who do not want to travel business but still prefer an upgraded service. He said the airline would be coming out with a very aggressive introductory fare to encourage Middle East traffic to Scandinavia. He expected tourism from the Middle East to Scandinavian countries to grow, as attractions such as the Northern lights and the Norwegian fjords were unique to the region.
SAS is the combined national carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and operates out of three hubs, Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm. It carried a total of 1.8 million passengers on its total network - domestic, European and intercontinental - during August, down by 16.9 per cent over the same period last year.
While the intercontinental traffic component decreased 19 per cent this August compared to 2008, capacity was down by 21.3 per cent as a second aircraft in the global fleet was grounded. This resulted in an improved load factor of 2.6 p u that reached 89.3 per cent.
Traffic on European routes decreased by 19.5 per cent, but the load factor improved by a strong 5.3 p u. The European capacity was reduced mainly from Norway due to closure of unprofitable leisure routes. Intra-Scandinavian traffic decreased 16 per cent and capacity fell by 24.3 per cent.
By Nina Varghese
© Emirates Business 24/7 2009
