It’s an exciting time at Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). The airline has just emerged from bankruptcy protection, and now has an investment from Air France-KLM, and has also left Star Alliance and joined SkyTeam. Coinciding with this, the airline is making a bunch of changes, ranging from launching flights to Seattle, to introducing business class on flights within Europe, to increasingly focusing on Copenhagen as a global hub.
With SAS now being in SkyTeam, Delta and SAS have announced closer ties, though manage your expectations for now.
In this post:
Delta & SAS launch enhanced partnership
As of September 25, 2024, Delta and SAS have signed a a codeshare agreement, which comes just weeks after SAS joined SkyTeam. The codeshare agreement is intended to improve connection opportunities for customers between North America and Scandinavia.
Delta highlights how this new codeshare agreement offers reciprocal frequent flyer benefits, including the ability to earn and redeem Delta SkyMiles and SAS EuroBonus miles across both carriers. However, that should be possible purely based on them both belonging to SkyTeam, so it doesn’t seem to me like this codeshare agreement is changing that, specifically.
This codeshare agreement will give Delta customers flying from North America access to 50 destinations in Northern Europe, via SAS’ hubs in Copenhagen, Oslo, and Stockholm, while SAS customers flying from Europe will get access to more than 150 destinations in North America, via Delta’s hubs in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle.
For those not familiar, a codeshare agreement essentially allows an airline to place its “code” on the flight of another airline, essentially marketing that flight. So this means that on Delta’s website you’ll start to see SAS flights with Delta flight numbers, and vice versa. It’s a closer level of cooperation than an interline agreement or mutual alliance membership, but it’s not as close as a joint venture.
While SAS flies to a good number of Delta’s hubs, the inverse isn’t true. Even with Delta’s transatlantic announcement for 2025, there wasn’t a single flight to one of SAS’ hubs.
Will SAS join the SkyTeam transatlantic joint venture?
It’s worth keeping in mind what the long term play is for SAS to join the SkyTeam transatlantic joint venture, which otherwise consists of Air France-KLM, Delta, and Virgin Atlantic.
A joint venture is almost like a merger in a particular market, as it allows airlines to coordinate fares, schedules, and more. While there are some consumer benefits to joint ventures, they’re also the equivalent of eliminating a competitor in the market.
For SAS, joining the SkyTeam transatlantic joint venture would be a huge deal, as it should help the carrier’s yields across the Atlantic. It’s also not surprising to see that the other carriers want SAS to join the joint venture, both due to the useful geography that SAS opens up, and also given the equity investments between these airlines (Delta has a stake in Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic, and Air France-KLM has a stake in SAS).
What remains to be seen is if that joint venture ends up getting government approval. These tend to be scrutinized pretty close, and for good reason, given the impact they have on competition.
Bottom line
Delta and SAS are launching a codeshare agreement. With this, Delta will be able to market some SAS flights through its booking channels, and vice versa. This is minor in the scheme of things, given that both airlines belong to the same alliance. The bigger deal will be if/when SAS joins the SkyTeam transatlantic joint venture.
What do you make of the new Delta & SAS codeshare agreement?
odd question: I booked a flight on SAS when they were StarAlliance but flew the actual route 3 days after they made the move to SkyTeam. I used my United FF# but the segment never showed up. Do I have a case here or is it "you earn when you fly, not when you book"
Exactly that. It's the flight date that's the record date for earnings and the booking date for spending. There's been a lot of news about point earnings and point spending on SAS' website. Basically anything StarAlliance and point related just stopped after August 31st. No new earnings on *A loyalty programs and even existing *A points bookings couldn't be altered anymore by SAS. Fortunately, points bookings made before September 1st would still be respected.
AF/KLM is making a significant effort to get SK into the JV. I guess it's just a matter of time and I do believe it will be one of those semi-critical factors to make the SAS-rebirth a success. I think it may make for an extra TATL flight or two to ARN, but nor OSL. Never OSL.
"Delta highlights how this new codeshare agreement offers reciprocal frequent flyer benefits, including the ability to earn...
AF/KLM is making a significant effort to get SK into the JV. I guess it's just a matter of time and I do believe it will be one of those semi-critical factors to make the SAS-rebirth a success. I think it may make for an extra TATL flight or two to ARN, but nor OSL. Never OSL.
"Delta highlights how this new codeshare agreement offers reciprocal frequent flyer benefits, including the ability to earn and redeem Delta SkyMiles and SAS EuroBonus miles across both carriers. However, that should be possible purely based on them both belonging to SkyTeam, so it doesn’t seem to me like this codeshare agreement is changing that, specifically."
I'm just making a wild guess here, but SK currently has a point earnings table on its website for codeshare flights flown on 'foreign' metal. The earnings differ from what can be earned when flying on a DL flight that has no SK codeshare. So a DL flight with a DL flight number has different earnings than a DL flight with an SK flight number would have, for those collecting EuroBogus points. I think that will be the major change here. So from now on it will be worth checking out how you can book and get most points for your money.
If it is anything like KLM/Delta codeshare, when things go south: KLM "You need to talk to Delta". Delta: "That's a KLM flight".
That’s exactly the kind of problem I have had when flying KL-marketed-DL-operated flights with broken in-flight entertainment systems and problematic seats. Neither airline is eager to take responsibility even as both airlines are hungry for the customers’ money.
@GUWonder
Wait till the an IRROP on a DL-ticket AF-market KL-operate using a GUC.
From experience, a triple cluster F.
I did not know that until we had friends that were traveling back to ATL from Croatia with us but on a DL itinerary on KLM metal, they were sorely put out to be handed off to KLM CS which were inaccurate, useless and reportedly could have cared less. They escalated to DL and DL finally put them on Lufthansa after more than a few hours of back and forth, otherwise KLM finally responded we...
I did not know that until we had friends that were traveling back to ATL from Croatia with us but on a DL itinerary on KLM metal, they were sorely put out to be handed off to KLM CS which were inaccurate, useless and reportedly could have cared less. They escalated to DL and DL finally put them on Lufthansa after more than a few hours of back and forth, otherwise KLM finally responded we will get you home in a day or so. At Dubrovnik KLM checked the flight in, took passengers bags and then got to the gate, the same ticket counter personnel, and then told the passengers that the flight was leaving at 6:25pm not AM as scheduled, our friends looked down at their boarding pass and it said 6:25pm, how did KLM think that exercise was going to end?
I wonder with the AF/KL investment and closer partnership if DL will allow SAS business passengers into the Delta One lounge.
DL has had summer seasonal service to both CPH & ARN for years - since it's not new, they wouldn't have mentioned it in their '25 launch
What is noteworthy is that the press release about this did not mention any code-sharing via MSP nor via DTW. What is the explanation behind that?
My guess is that neither have any flights to CPH whereas the rest of the Delta hubs do. Aside from the addition of Dublin next summer and Iceland last year (only after Icelandair announced their flights), DTW is constantly forgotten. Would love more direct options out of here. Was also hoping that Turkish flights would help drive down prices at this fortress-hub but no evidence of that yet based on my searches.
It means you're not going to see Delta's A350 in CPH anytime soon.
Enjoy Tim's "premium" 767.
An unrelated SAS question - I recently bought a QR ticket through its website where the first out of the three segments is operated by SAS (effectively an intra Europe feed to QR). Will I get an my Avios for that? It seems to be under SK code in the reservation but part of a larger QR itinerary ticketed by QR.
Prior to that, I didn’t even know QR uses SAS feeder flights.
You will have to credit the QR flights to a Oneworld airline program or some other program that has a reciprocity arrangement with Qatar’s own frequent flyer program. That is unless the QR flights were sold to you as a codeshare on some SkyTeam airline — but that isn’t something I recall seen on SAS-issued tickets and so you would have to find a program that accepts QR-operated flight segments for credit.
It is...
You will have to credit the QR flights to a Oneworld airline program or some other program that has a reciprocity arrangement with Qatar’s own frequent flyer program. That is unless the QR flights were sold to you as a codeshare on some SkyTeam airline — but that isn’t something I recall seen on SAS-issued tickets and so you would have to find a program that accepts QR-operated flight segments for credit.
It is possible to credit the QR flights on the ticket to AA or BA accounts while crediting the SAS flights to AF/KL, Delta or SAS’s frequent flyer program even when you have such a ticket as you mention.
I wonder if they'll ever do anything about the 2.5 hour min connect time in ATL right now specificially between SK and DL. Kinda restrictive.
2.5 hour is a reasonable connection time in ATL.
I've missed so many flights because Ed thinks 35 mins is enough to go from T1 to E1. As bad as T1 to F1 in 45 mins. And the next flight to HND or ICN leaves the next day.
Thanks for closing the gate early too.
I don't think you can even make it out of the last row before the gate closes.
And somehow I never get a Porsche they like to advertise.
Oh well at least ATL still has those 763 for Tim to defend.
It’s double the min connect time of AF/KLM to Delta and an hour more than the Standard. I see it being completely restrictive for members of the same alliance.
I don't know about that, if you landed at T1 and departed from F9 it would be hard pressed to take more than ~25-30 minutes to transit those 2 locations (after stepping off the plane)
For non-USA-ians like me who have collected passport stamps from nearly every place in the world, 2,5 hours is still a very short connection as it can take up to 3 hours to get through customs and immigration in the US (that's my record, set a few years ago at JFK). Even for international to international connections, one has to go through there, as the US offers no sterile transits. And then there's the issue...
For non-USA-ians like me who have collected passport stamps from nearly every place in the world, 2,5 hours is still a very short connection as it can take up to 3 hours to get through customs and immigration in the US (that's my record, set a few years ago at JFK). Even for international to international connections, one has to go through there, as the US offers no sterile transits. And then there's the issue of possibly changing terminals, having to deliver bags again and going through security again...
It's cumbersome. It's the main reason why I avoid international flights with connections in the US.
VS announced a codeshare agreement with SAS back in June but at the time they didn’t announce which routes so will be interesting to see how this all develops.
Given the AF/KLM investment was the whole reason they joined SkyTeam. I don't see why they wouldn't eventually join the JV.
Joint venture approvals take time, so I imagine we shall see this soon along w/ some safe Delta hub flights to CPH, probably upgauging from seasonal to year-round JFK-CPH.
Not sure we'll see anything w/ ARN or OSL given the direction SAS is taking with focusing on CPH.
Very vanilla, safe, and boring business decisions from Delta as usual.
I hope the US Government refuses to allow SAS into the DL-AF/KL-VS revenue-sharing joint venture. I want more competition — not less — across the transatlantic market.
Just because they might be denied a joint-venture, doesn't mean they're going to function as any real competition. Joint-venture allows them to proactively schedule their services, capacity, and prices, together. The absence of a joint-venture doesn't prevent them from reactively doing so, independently. The former just makes it easier.
Well if they don't have a JV who's going to take a hit and operate the bad timing flights.
They all will operate 30 mins apart and compete against each other.
Not that airline industry doesn't unofficial collude. Just ask any RM.
Denmark, Norway, and Sweden are the best countries on earth if you ask me. The cultures are dignified and unfailingly polite.
Denmark, Norway, and Sweden are the best countries on earth if you ask me. The cultures are dignified and unfailingly polite. There's a reason Trump in his 2016/2020 campaigns asked why can't we have more Norwegian immigrants. This was not a pro-white rally call; it would have made no sense for Trump to have called for more French or Italian immigrants.
Thanks for the good laugh! You really don't know much about Scandinavia, do you?
They have strict gun control, socialized healthcare and medicine, they pay lots of taxes (VAT is up to 25%), they have socialist regimes (especially in Norway right now) of which they are very proud (Norway might even vote to go communist at the next election!), the work mentality is generally quite lazy and responsibility-dodging is the national pastime. It takes...
Thanks for the good laugh! You really don't know much about Scandinavia, do you?
They have strict gun control, socialized healthcare and medicine, they pay lots of taxes (VAT is up to 25%), they have socialist regimes (especially in Norway right now) of which they are very proud (Norway might even vote to go communist at the next election!), the work mentality is generally quite lazy and responsibility-dodging is the national pastime. It takes ages to get anything done and everything needs several layers of approval first. Nearly all workers are unionized, by the way. But, Scandinavians have a great PR machine in showing the world their superiority complex, while simultaneously, and hypocritically, applying Janteloven at home. Oh, alcohol is unaffordable, sales times are limited by government monopoly control, and so are most other things. Basically anything your boy Trump dislikes.
People may look polite to you, but they're most likely just doing so to keep you at distance. They're not warm, interested and welcoming. They're indifferent by default and skeptical of anything new and foreign. It's nearly impossible for a foreigner to build up a social network and to make friends there.
I've been living there for a few years now and am seriously considering moving elsewhere. The amount of government control on my private life is beyond uncomfortable.
No country in Scandianvia has a socialist regime or anything even remotely close to it.