As a result of an investment of $1.2 billion by Air France-KLM Group for a share of 19.9 percent of Scandinavian Airlines — which had filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code of the United States on Tuesday, July 5, 2022 — the airline left Star Alliance at the end of the day on Saturday, August 31, 2024 and became a member of the SkyTeam Alliance effective as of yesterday, Sunday, September 1, 2024.
Scandinavian Airlines to Join SkyTeam Alliance
By joining SkyTeam, SAS contributes to the alliance’s strategic focus on customer experience and sustainability. SAS customers will also benefit from seamless connectivity to over 1,000 destinations in SkyTeam’s extensive global network, notably opening new opportunities in regions such as Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Codeshare agreements are already in place with Air France-KLM with more SkyTeam members to follow soon.
SAS customers will now enjoy expanded travel options, including access to numerous destinations previously unavailable. EuroBonus members stand to benefit significantly. From today they can earn and redeem points across most SkyTeam airlines, while Gold and Diamond members will gain access to SkyPriority services and lounges around the world.
SAS EuroBonus Silver members will now be recognized as SkyTeam Elite, and Gold and Diamond members will enjoy the elevated status of Elite Plus, granting them enhanced services across the SkyTeam network.
With SAS now a member, SkyTeam becomes the only airline alliance to serve both the southernmost and northernmost commercial airports in the world: Ushuaia in Argentina and Svalbard in Norway. This addition further strengthens the alliance’s reach across key global markets, with improved access to the key Scandinavian hubs of Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Oslo, providing more robust connections for travelers.
The EuroBonus membership program of Scandinavian Airlines — which is also known as SAS — will otherwise remain unaffected: points will remain in membership accounts and retain their current expiration date; and elite status and benefits will still be intact. The one major difference is that members of EuroBonus will enjoy the following benefits with most partner airlines of the SkyTeam Alliance instead of the airlines of Star Alliance — such as:
- Extra baggage allowance and priority check-in for EuroBonus Silver members
- Lounge access, fast track, and priority boarding for EuroBonus Gold and Diamond members in addition to an extra baggage allowance and priority check-in
Scandinavian Airlines transitioned from being a member of Star Alliance — of which it was one of the five founding members on Wednesday, May 14, 1997 — to the SkyTeam Alliance, of which Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airways are founding members.
Ways towards building a sustainable future were being sought for the financially troubled airline and some of its subsidiaries during the ongoing bankruptcy process. Air France-KLM Group was declared the winning bidder consortium in its exit financing solicitation process.
Scandinavian Airlines continues to operate and serve its customers as usual throughout the process. Any additional details of the transition will be shared as soon as possible.
Final Boarding Call
This announcement initially caught many people by surprise for a number of reasons — including the unusual move of the founding member of one airline alliance to leave to become a member of another alliance.
The future was already looking rather bleak for Scandinavian Airlines with the issues that it faced. For example, a labor dispute with its pilots in 2022 was expected to cost approximately $13 million per day — which the airline simply could not afford.
Regardless of the benefits and disadvantages of this deal, its outcome significantly changed the commercial aviation landscape in Europe — starting with the aforementioned switch of membership in airline alliances. How significant that change will be in the long term remains to be seen…
…but in the meantime, Scandinavian Airlines bids hej då and farväl to Star Alliance.
Photograph ©2008 by Brian Cohen.
