A Swedish union threatened late on Wednesday to take its 100 pilots working for SAS out on strike later this month but the Scandinavian airline said the action would probably not affect its flights.

The union Pilotforbundet said it had given notice of a strike from May 18 unless a deal with the employer on a collective wage agreement for its members was reached.

SAS, half-owned by Sweden, Norway and Denmark, said about 100 of its 1,700 pilots were members of Pilotforbundet and it estimated the strike would not affect any flights.

Swedish Airline Pilots Association (SPF), the country's biggest pilot union, said in a statement it did not support Pilotforbundet's claim. SPF, which has about 1,900 members, has a collective wage agreement for its members working for SAS.