The story
Founded by AB Aerotransport, Det Danske Luftfartselskab and Norwegian Air Lines in 1946.1
History
The airline was founded on 1 August 1946 when Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S, AB Aerotransport, and Det Norske Luftfartselskap AS (the flag carriers of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway) formed a partnership to handle intercontinental traffic to Scandinavia. Operations started on 17 September 1946. The companies then started coordination of European operations in 1948 and finally merged to form the current SAS Consortium in 1951. When established, the airline was divided between SAS Danmark (28.6%), SAS Norge (28.6%), and SAS Sweden (42.8%), all owned 50% by private investors and 50% by their respective governments. SAS gradually acquired control of the domestic markets in all three countries by acquiring full or partial control of several local airlines. In May 1997, SAS formed the global Star Alliance network with Air Canada, Lufthansa, Thai Airways International, and United Airlines.
History of SAS Group
Predecessors and unification
The SAS Group has its origins in 1918 with the founding of AB Aerotransport (ABA), the Swedish parent company of SAS. In 1920, Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S (DDL), the Danish parent company, was established. DDL was listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange in 1924. In 1927, Det Norske Luftfartselskap A/S (DNL), the Norwegian parent company, was founded.
In 1946, SAS was formed from Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S (DDL), Det Norske Luftfartselskap A/S (DNL), and Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik AB (SILA). The first intercontinental flight was from Stockholm Arlanda to New York. In 1951, DDL, DNL, and ABA formed the present SAS Consortium.
Early years
In 1954, SAS became the first airline to fly the Copenhagen - Los Angeles polar route in regular scheduled service. In 1957, SAS was the first airline to offer "round the world service over the North Pole" from Copenhagen to Tokyo via Anchorage. The airline entered the jet age in 1959 with the introduction of the Caravelle aircraft. In 1960, SAS opened its first hotel, the SAS Royal Hotel Copenhagen, and helped establish Thai Airways International, taking a 30% share in the joint venture. In 1965, SAS was the first airline to introduce an electronic reservation system.
In 1967, DNL was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. In 1971, SAS put its first Boeing 747 jumbo jet into service. In 1977, SAS sold its remaining stakes in Thai Airways. In 1980, SAS opened its first hotel outside of Scandinavia, the SAS Kuwait Hotel. SILA was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. In 1981, SAS EuroClass was introduced on all European routes. The following year, SAS was named the most punctual airline in Europe for the first time. In 1984, SAS received the Air Transport World's distinction "Airline of the Year" for 1983.
Expansion and refocusing
In 1986, Spanair was founded by SAS Group. In 1987, SAS cofounded the Amadeus Computerised Reservation System (also known as GDS). In 1989, SAS International Hotels owned 40% of Intercontinental Hotels Group, a stake that was sold in 1992.
In 1994, SAS began to refocus on airline operations in the SAS Group, selling a number of subsidiaries along with the franchise of Diners Club Nordic. The company celebrated its 50th anniversary on 1 August 1996, and the SAS parent company changed its name to SAS Danmark A/S, SAS Norge ASA, and SAS Sverige AB.
In 1997, SAS became one of the founding members of Star Alliance. In 1998, Air Botnia (Blue1) became a wholly owned subsidiary of the SAS Group. In 1999, the SAS Group became a majority owner of Widerøe.
Read the full text
21st century
In 2001, a single SAS share was established, as SAS AB. On July 6, SAS was listed on the stock exchanges in Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Oslo. In December, Braathens was acquired by the SAS Group. In 2002, Rezidor SAS Hospitality signed a master franchise agreement with Carlson Hotels Worldwide; the agreement came to an end in 2009. In 2003, SAS acquired 49% of the shares in Estonian Air.
In 2004, Scandinavian Airlines Sverige, SAS Braathens, and Scandinavian Airlines Danmark were incorporated. In 2006, SAS sold its remaining shares in the Rezidor Hotel Group chain. In 2007, CEO and President Mats Jansson was inaugurated; SAS sold the SAS Flight Academy.
In 2010, CEO Jansson departed his position and was replaced by John S. Dueholm on an interim basis. Rickard Gustafson became the new permanent CEO in 2011. In January 2012, Spanair collapsed, leading to write-downs of 1.7 billion kronor by SAS. In 2013, SAS sold 80% of the shares in Widerøe.
In 2014, SAS sold the cleaning part of SAS Ground Handling to Sodexo. In 2015, SAS sold SAS Ground Handling in 14 airports in Norway to Widerøe Ground Handling and sold Blue1 to CityJet. In November 2015, Estonian Air collapsed, resulting in SAS losing 2.5% of the shares. In 2016, SAS sold its remaining 20% stake in Widerøe.
Norway's government sold its final 9.88% stake in SAS Group in June 2018.
Impact of COVID-19 and restructuring
In 2020, SAS halted most of its traffic from March 16 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This decision led to the temporary layoff of 90% of the group's staff as travel demand plummeted globally. In July 2022, SAS filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States as part of a restructuring effort to address its financial difficulties.
As part of the restructuring plan, SAS secured new investments and underwent significant ownership changes. US investment firm Castlelake acquired a 32% stake in the reorganised airline, while Air France-KLM obtained around 20%. The Danish state obtained a 26% share, and Danish investor Lind Invest acquired 8.6%. The remaining equity was expected to be distributed among SAS's creditors.
The restructuring also involved delisting SAS from the Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Oslo stock exchanges, resulting in the existing shares' value being reduced to zero. This decision affected over 250,000 shareholders, many of whom were retail investors, and led to a 95% drop in the stock's value.
The restructuring marked the end of Wallenberg family's involvement in SAS. A prominent Swedish business dynasty, the Wallenbergs had had involvement in SAS since 1946, and through their investment company, FAM AB had been a major stakeholder in SAS. Their stake was effectively wiped out during the restructuring process.
Air France-KLM, which became a significant shareholder, indicated plans to integrate SAS flights into its existing network at its hubs in Amsterdam and Paris. This was part of Air France-KLM's broader goal to expand its operations in the Nordic region. A condition of the deal is that Air France-KLM could also expand its stake in SAS after at least two years to become a controlling shareholder.
On 4 July 2025, Air France-KLM announced its intention to increase its stake in SAS’s share capital from 19.9% to 60.5%, taking over Castlelake and Lind Invest's stakes in the company. Pending approval from competition authorities, Air France-KLM expect SAS to become a subsidiary in Air France-KLM Group, where the Danish Ministry of Finance will retain its minority stake of approximately 26% in the subsidiary. This move was not unexpected as already in 2023, Air France-KLM announced the ambition to become a controlling stakeholder after a minimum of 2 years.
From Wikipedia’s article on SAS Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5