Star Alliance member SAS Scandinavian Airlines plans to open a new transatlantic route from Denmark’s capital Copenhagen to Atlanta, a key hub for rival alliance SkyTeam.
From June 17, the carrier will introduce flights between Copenhagen Airport (CPH) and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, operating daily during the summer months using Airbus A330-300 aircraft. Frequencies will reduce to 5X-weekly during the winter season onboard A350-900s.
Atlanta, a primary hub for Delta Air Lines, will become the ninth destination served by SAS in North America, alongside flights to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Newark, New York, San Francisco, Toronto and Washington.
The move is a first step by the Scandinavian carrier to realign its network ahead of switching alliances to SkyTeam. SAS announced in October a proposed new ownership structure that will see it leave Star Alliance, a group that it co-founded 1997, after an Air France-KLM-led consortium agreed to buy a stake.
“Through an agreement with Delta Air Lines, passengers can continue their journey on other Delta-served destinations out of Atlanta,” SAS President and CEO Anko van der Werff says. “This development means an expanded offering for SAS passengers, who can look forward to reaching several new and exciting destinations across the southern U.S., Caribbean and Latin America, all conveniently accessible from Atlanta.”
SAS filed for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2022 as part of its ongoing SAS Forward restructuring plan, which runs to 2026. On Oct. 3, it was confirmed that a consortium, made up of Air France-KLM and investment firms Castlelake and Lind Invest, had been selected as the winning bidder in SAS’s exit financing solicitation process.
The market between Copenhagen and Atlanta is unserved nonstop at present, according to OAG Schedules Analyser data. Delta has connected the cities in the past, providing scheduled service for five years from May 2006. However, U.S. Transportation Department data shows the city pair has been unserved since August 2011.
In addition to the new Atlanta route, SAS—which was named the Official Carrier for Routes Europe 2024—plans to increase frequencies from CPH to Boston Logan International Airport, New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Toronto Pearson International Airport this summer.
As previously reported, nine new European routes are also being launched, including flights to leisure destinations in Italy, Montenegro and Spain. However, the airline is not scheduled to resume its Airbus A321LR routes to JFK from Aalborg, Denmark, and Gothenburg, Sweden. Both sectors were served up to three times per week during the summer 2023 season.
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