SAS Scandinavian Airlines

SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System) is the flagship carrier for Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Originally founded on August 1, 1946, it was established as a consortium to coordinate the international flight operations of three national airlines: Det Danske Luftfartselskab (Denmark), Det Norske Luftfartselskap (Norway), and Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik AB (Sweden). In 1951, these entities formally merged to create the airline as it is known today. Historically, the airline has been a symbol of pan-Scandinavian cooperation and was a founding member of the Star Alliance in 1997.

In recent years, SAS underwent a major financial restructuring through U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, which concluded in August 2024. This resulted in a transformation of its ownership structure. As of 2024, the airline is owned by a consortium consisting of Castlelake, L.P., the Government of Denmark, Air France-KLM, and Lind Invest. Currently, Air France-KLM holds a 19.9% stake; however, based on a strategic roadmap for 2026, the Franco-Dutch group has initiated proceedings to increase its ownership to approximately 60.5%, making it the ultimate majority owner. This shift also saw SAS leave Star Alliance to join SkyTeam. While the airline remains headquartered in Solna, Sweden, its operations and maintenance activities are distributed across its primary hubs in Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Oslo.