Member spotlight: Scandinavian Airlines
Scandinavian Airlines is a well-known company for all Nordic travelers. SAS focuses on travelers to, from, and within Scandinavia and flies its customers to 1300 destinations worldwide. The company’s strategic priorities for sustainable and profitable business are:
Preferred airline for Scandinavia's travelers,
Modern single-type fleet,
Fully competitive operating model
Global leadership in sustainable aviation.
We met the company’s General Manager Region Americas Jasmin Utter and discussed their new routes, developments, and sustainability efforts.
Jasmin Utter: General Manager Region Americas of Scandinavian Airlines
How many routes have you added in 2022 and how many will you add in 2023?
2022 saw strong demand for travel and SAS subsequently opened new routes from the Scandinavian capitals to domestic and European destinations, particularly Southern Europe. We also expanded our network in North America with a new direct route from Toronto to Copenhagen and one to Stockholm. During the summer, we offered 150 weekly flights between North America and Scandinavia.
This coming summer, SAS will open 20 new routes, which will mean more than 5,000 weekly flights to over 100 destinations. In addition, we just announced a new route between JFK and Copenhagen, and a new frequency from Copenhagen to Shanghai.
Could you please tell us a little bit about the new JFK route?
On February 9, we are launching a new route between John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Copenhagen Airport. Through the launch of the new route to JFK in New York, we will offer our customers frequent departures to this convenient, efficient, and modern airport with easy access to and from New York as well as many connecting flights to choose from. JFK service begins with five weekly flights from Copenhagen, ramping up with daily flights for the summer schedule. We will be operating into terminal 7 at JFK.
The new route gives customers the opportunity to travel easily from both the West and East side of New York as SAS continues to offer departures from Scandinavia to Newark.
What are the main developments that SAS has done in the last five years?
Due to the pandemic and its significant impact on the travel industry, much of the development was put on hold. With the world slowly returning to normal, our focus has been to ramp up our flights to levels similar to pre-COVID. In addition, SAS has launched SAS FORWARD, a comprehensive business transformation plan that was launched to enable SAS to continue to be a competitive player in the global airline industry. We will continue to develop our customer offering while simultaneously strengthening our financial position and accelerating our work with key elements of SAS FORWARD.
What are Scandinavian Airlines' competitive advantages compared to competitors?
SAS is Scandinavia’s leading airline. We offer a large number of daily flights to many destinations across Scandinavia, Europe, North America, and Asia. The great technological improvements of our fleet renewal and the new Airbus A350 and A321LR aircraft give SAS a long-haul fleet that is top of the class in the industry. It has strengthened our customer offering with regard to comfort, service, and efficiency. We are the industry leaders in sustainability, proactively addressing all areas to reduce the CO2 footprint and reach the industry goals of net zero emissions by 2050.
SAS is one of the founding members of Star Alliance, which offers an extensive network to more than 1,200 airports.
What kind of action SAS is taking in terms of sustainability?
Our strategy is to replace older aircraft with the newest generation. For the long haul we have replaced our A340 with A350 and also introduced the A321LR, which is a smaller aircraft and helps us to the right size on some thinner flows or new flows, thus also reducing the emissions. The shift in aircraft types has reduced our CO2 emissions by 18% compared to the previous generation of aircraft that it replaces.
Looking ahead, we support the Swedish company Heart Aerospace in its development of electric aircraft, which has the potential of being a significant step towards zero-emission flights. In addition, we are also collaborating with Airbus to gain a deeper understanding of what hybrid, hydrogen, and electric aircraft would mean for the infrastructure and ecosystem.
To realize the airline industry’s environmental objectives, the future of aviation is largely dependent on the development of alternative and sustainable jet fuels based on one or more renewable sources. Unlike most types of transportation, aviation has no real alternative to the liquid fuels that are currently used.
There is also a need to secure access to liquid fuels as the supply of fossil alternatives is expected to decline and become more expensive. According to the IATA, phasing in alternative fuels over time could enable a reduction in the air travel industry’s emissions by up to 80% throughout its lifecycle. We collaborate with the US company Gevo, Finnish Neste, and several others to produce Sustainable aviation fuel for us but to also produce synthetic SAF, as there isn’t enough available.
What other sustainable efforts SAS has done?
Food and beverage served onboard are all locally sourced to reduce the need for transportation. We chose ecological options according to the season with a focus on healthier alternatives, reduced resource use, and more efficient waste management. For some passengers, it’s possible to pre-order meals, which means fewer meals are loaded on each flight and this in turn leads to less waste. We also recycle the aluminum cans used onboard.
By 2030, we will have 100% sustainable materials in our customer offering. To reach this goal, we constantly evaluate the materials and products we use and replace them with more sustainable solutions.
We introduced a new livery a few years ago. The way the aircraft are painted makes for a smoother surface which in turn causes less drag, which means less fuel burn
By using less than 3% of the water consumed in traditional washing of aircraft, we save around 3,000 liters of water per aircraft. This way of washing also helps keep the dirt away and gives the aircraft better aerodynamics, reducing the fuel burn in the process.
This is all possible by working together with suppliers and customers to develop more sustainable products and services throughout the travel chain. We work with key material suppliers, engine manufacturers, fuel suppliers, ground transport suppliers, and others, with the aim of developing more sustainable solutions for our customers.
The interior of the aircraft has been made lighter to reduce fuel consumption. That includes seats, carpets, USB charges, and much more. In addition, tax-free sales onboard, newspapers, and magazines have been removed to cut weight even more.
What are the aviation industry’s and Scandinavian Airline’s sustainability goals?
The industry has set a target of net zero emissions by 2050. One of the cornerstones is shifting from traditional fossil fuels to sustainable aviation fuel. That shift has begun and should accelerate in the coming years, provided the production of the fuel increases significantly.
We as a company support IATA’s vision that by 2050, it will be possible to fly commercially without climate impact. The vision is to be realized through a combination of new technology, new fuels, and coordinated actions to improve the infrastructure and the conditions under which air transport operates. We currently have the following sustainability goals:
· 25% lower CO2 emissions in 2025 compared with 2005 (absolute emissions)
· 18% biofuel used – equivalent to the total SAS domestic production, i.e. net zero carbon emission on SAS domestic markets
· 50% noise reduction compared to 2010
· 100% sustainable materials in the SAS customer offering
· 100% recycling where possible
To summarize, we are taking all the necessary steps to achieve our goals and also the industry goals. It is however imperative that for the airline industry to contribute to the reduction of emissions and achieve the net zero goals, there has to be collaboration throughout.
SAS is taking part in a sustainable aviation event on February in Los Angeles
We are happy to announce that Jasmin will be one of the panelists of the sustainable aviation event that we will organize together with the Norwegian American Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles on February 21st. In addition to Scandinavian Airlines, representatives from Ampaire, Los Angeles World Airports, and our newest member company Neste will be part of the panel discussion and share their insights for the future of aviation. More information about the event coming soon!
