SAS Expands Intercontinental Fleet

Scandinavian airline SAS is adding to its fleet with the addition of three long range Airbus A321LRs.

SAS has signed a lease agreement with US company Air Lease Corporation to add the aircraft to its intercontinental fleet. The A321s will be delivered from 2020.

The airline said the aircraft’s longer range will allow it to add services to the US Northeast, Canada, the Middle East and India from Scandinavia.

“This is an entirely new aircraft type for SAS that is incredibly well suited to the Scandinavian market and our travel patterns,” SAS chief executive Rickard Gustafson said. “We are looking forward to launching new routes and to evaluate the A321LR in production.”

SAS currently flies wide-body Airbus A330s and A340s on its intercontinental routes. The single-aisle A321LR, seating between 200 and 240 passengers depending on layout, will allow SAS to fill the aircraft on new routes to smaller markets or existing destinations from smaller airports.

SAS currently flies intercontinental services from three Scandinavian capital cities, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo.