Air France-KLM Plans To Acquire Majority Stake In SAS

Many very worried people at Embraer this week.

It's striking AF-KLM haven't really done more acquisitions tbh when you look in comparison to Lufthansa or IAG. So this makes sense. Although it doesn't expand their geographical hub reach. by that much given Copenhagen SAS's main hub isn't that far from Amsterdam and Paris, and remains in Northern Europe.

Wow, Ben. Traveling in Europe and I see readers of OMaaT are subjected to 137 tracking companies? Holy surveillance state, Batman.

For context, most websites have 5-20 trackers. Even major sites average around 64. This site is running a full-blown data harvesting operation with companies storing cookies for up to 10 years and collecting everything from your precise location to "probabilistic identifiers" (fancy term for digital fingerprinting).

Not great vibes for readers.

It was part of the bailout conditions during COVID and also their previous attempts have failed. Alitalia was supposed to be bought out by AFKLM about 15 years ago. Even JAL was seeking investments from them. The company doesn't have a very successful track record of acquisitions. SAS is an exception and the future may hold Air Europa (more likely) and WestJet (somewhat likely after Delta's investment with options for an AFKLM investment)

@Ben interesting article. Would also like to hear your take on AFKL's introduction of "Basic" economy below "Light" with no cabin bags and no XP earning.

This sucks

No.

Very happy for SAS. The future is going to be much better for them.

LOT is definitely not up for sale or consolidation. They and their shareholders actually have an ambition to become part of big 3 (big 4) themselves, although multihub strategy seems abandoned for now.

Don't forget AF's attempt to purchase CSA back in the day 🙂 I still think that's the biggest wasted opportunity as it would give them a geographically diverse hub and access to many (back then) emerging markets where they still lack position.

I agree that CPH isn't ideal for longhaul, but strong Scandinavian network will give AFKL (and their joint venture) a new USP. Eventual MAD hub via UX would be a gamechanger.

No.

There where statements that Ben Smith confirmed outright that Eurobonus would be integrated into FlyingBlue, I even saw a clip that seemed to be from the official press release. However, reading the press release avaliable on afkl website, no such statement is given, so will be exciting to see how this plays out.

Given the lack of avaliable tickets for booking with EB points I for one welcome this change, as I'd rather have avaliable tickets even though the dynamic pricing for FB surely will increase the cost.

Let’s see what happens at the Battle for TAP! AF/KLM are certainly interested.

Yes, a double edged sword! It’s very frustrating that SAS Eurobonus charges double points for China Airlines, Vietnam Airlines and Air Europa, and Flying Blue certainly get more partner (and own) award availability altogether. However, Flying Blue’s taxes and charges are very high compared to Eurobonus. I also find the Eurobonus Elite contact team great on e-mail so would miss them if gone.

Yes. Better than Star.

this has been one of the fastest and best-executed takeovers of the 2nd tier group of European "mini-flags"

SK successfully restructured after its business was destroyed by ultra low fare competition that ultimately failed but CPH is still a great and underdeveloped location for a global hub despite Russian airspace restrictions.
Scandinavian infighting about which hub would be the the largest were resolved in reorganization.

Letting go of ITA in exchange for SK will pay enormous dividends in every metric for years to come.

Even though the cooperation with DL is just beginning, DL's network will be of far greater value to SK than UA's ever was - esp. now that the data confirms that DL has handedly overtaken UA as the largest airline in NYC with 50% more flights and 25% more passenger boardings than UA in May.
UA is a necessary market for all TATL airlines and when you lead by that much, all of your partners benefit.

NYC is a necessary market for all TATL airlines and when you lead by that much, all of your partners benefit.

They should be trying to buy TAP, there's so little overlap and so much potential for synergies between them.

Better start spending those points before the devaluation.

Hopefully this would mean access to more lounges when flying SAS in business or with status. SAS currently do not pay for lounge access in a lot of airports (including my local) which is very annoying.

@Lotta:

How do you see this. I am very concerned about my privacy and do all possible to restrict such tracking and sharing my data as much as possible.

I think that was always going to happen with the introduction of business class in October. I don't think they can get away with selling full-blown European business class tickets without lounge access.

Amazing that Europe allows users to see who is tracking them when they visit a site but the USA does not. I stumbled upon this on my last trip to Europe. Eye opening.

So Lufthansa Group will finally have a proper competition within Europe? Cool!

This would be terrible for SAS, they have definitely turned it around and I will do anything to avoid AF/KL their XP point earning etc is awful, EuroBonus isn't perfect but it's easy to understand etc. I'm all for them taking a 49.9% but I suppose with the already lack of competition in Europe of major carriers I'm not surprised anymore.

This is great for the SAS Millionaires who got in on the promo late last year. Eurobonus being integrated into FlyingBlue would offer a lot more destinations on points, cheaper Economy awards, and more award seats available in premium cabins.

I agree wholeheartedly, especially with LATAM being in Sky Team. And, as someone mentioned below, CPH is pretty close to AMS.

I initially thought that this comment was being sarcastic, but it unfortunately seems to have been made in all seriousness.

Let's take the three claims in turn:
- A lot more destinations on points. It's true that FB has some partners outside of Skyteam like Copa, Gol and MH, but I don't think that they amount to a huge amount of additional coverage unless you're talking secondary destinations (e.g. for domestic flights in Brazil). Having additional redemption options on the likes of Oman Air or QF may, however, bring more flexibility to redemptions.

- 'Cheaper economy awards' aren't really a thing on partner airlines. TUN-JED-DXB one way is 30k on Eurobonus but 37k on FB. Admittedly, you can get a 25k FB redemption on some days if you are happy to take a detour via CDG, but availability isn't anywhere near as good. CPH-MAD-EZE (SK/AR) and back is 90k Eurobonus points but 115k FB miles. But anyone who's bagged a million miles will want to fly upfront, and FB is brutal when it comes to that (the same CPH-MAD-EZE return is 221k).

- More award seats in premium cabins aren't going to be available outside of AFKL and the non-Skyteam partners. Any extra seats on AFKL themselves are likely to be even more overpriced.

All in all, people should be careful around what they wish for!

LATAM isn't in Skyteam, they're only a partner of DL (and their weird red-headed UK stepchild). AFKL work extremely closely with their main competitor in Brazil/the Cono Sur.

I don’t think on the 4th of July, when we are celebrating our independence from the UK, that you should post articles about European airlines.

So you think instead you should be celebrating the failed 'American Experiment' where the patchwork attempt at democracy has finally fallen into the firepit of autocracy? Happy 4th July.

Yeah this is terrible for SAS Millionaires (I am one). Long-haul business class going from 50k+low fees to 80k or more and higher fees.

I transferred Amex points to Flying Blue in November for a specific trip, they arrived too late so I had to make alternate arrangements. Having failed to find any good use for them since I've just mentally devalued them to a cent per point. In contrast, SAS points are worth more like two cents per point for long-haul business class.

Hopefully SAS customer service will improve. Never had any issues reaching AF customer service as well as changing reward flights. SAS was completely the opposite, took several hours to reach an agent and they refused to rebook me on a SkyTeam partner when they cancelled my return flight.

This is why people laugh at seppos

As a Former SAS Scandinavian Airlines staff in Denmark and Sweden I think this is absolutely a necessity.
The Star Alliance team was not sustainable for SAS in the long run .
I think by being a part of Air France/KLM group will bring a much brighter future for SAS .
Though I must say ,they need to invest to have some long haul flight going out of Stockholm Sweden and Oslo Norway .
Also asap get all their SAS flights from Copenhagen,Stockholm and Oslo to New York’s JFK .
I had the pleasure working at SAS for 20 years .
It is a great Airline Safe and reliable .
All the best from Naples Florida .

other reports are that Sweden is ending its high taxes on aviation - precisely because they saw that it hurt air travel. Greta must be in tears and the Swedish economy might recover.
Might be too long for SAS to change its strategy of primarily focusing in CPH.

And yes, Star made SK the red-headed stepchild of the alliance by excluding them from the JV so it didn't take too much for AF/KL and eventually DL and VS to elevate SK's future

A firepit of autocracy is what we use to grill our hotdogs on the 4th. Later we go down to the airport and make faces at the BA flights as they sheepishly depart for the UK. Then we go to the hotel bar where Air France crews RON, and celebrate their support of our independence by buying them beer and wine. While they are happy to drink a free beer, for some reason,
none of them seem to want the wine…

When would a potential closing of this purchase be??