Back in May, SAS announced the new business class product they’d install throughout their longhaul fleet starting in 2015.
SAS A330 at Oslo Airport
Not only will they install it on their existing A330/A340 aircraft, but they’ll also install it on the four A330s they’ll be taking delivery of over the next two years, as well as the A350s they’ll begin taking delivery of in 2018.
SAS new business class
At the time the announcement was made, SAS said that the first plane with the new business class should be in service in early 2015, and that the reconfigurations should be completed within 12 months.
Anyway, up until recently we didn’t have an exact timeline of when the new product would be flying, though Henning at BonusFeber did some digging, and it appears as if SAS has updated the seatmaps with the new product as of early next year.
So far, the SAS new business class seatmap shows for the following flights:
- Copenhagen to Newark as of February 1, 2015
- Stockholm to Newark as of March 17, 2015
The way to tell is that the new business class seatmap is in a 1-2-1 configuration
Meanwhile the old business class seatmap is in a 2-2-2 configuration:
Now, SAS hasn’t made an official statement indicating the start dates of service for the refreshed aircraft, but rather has just updated the seatmaps. So I wouldn’t count on those dates sticking 100% (and even if they officially announced it, I still wouldn’t count on it sticking 100%).
Still, it’s nice to have a general timeline of when they’ll introduce the new business class. And it’s really not surprising that New York is the first place they’ll be flying it to.
The new SAS business class product is a huge improvement over the old one. The old seats were angled, while these are fully flat and each feature direct aisle access. The seats are almost identical to the new business class seats that Qantas is installing on their A330 aircraft.
Qantas A330 new business class
I do hope to try the product out sometime, though SAS is notoriously stingy when it comes to releasing premium cabin award space. That being said, when you can find award space it’s a great use of Aeroplan miles, since they charge just 45,000 miles one-way between the US and Europe, and don’t impose fuel surcharges for travel on SAS.
Do you have any plans to try SAS’ new business class product?
Flying to NRT march 2016, will it be the new business class ?
Just flew EWR-ARN-HKG with SAS in the new cabin and I was blown away. The hard product is gorgeous, Scandinavian design elements make it one of the nicest J cabins out there.
The service was shockingly amazing, I've had similar service to that of the big Asian airlines.
If you want to see if you've got the new cabin go to https://scandinaviantraveler.com/en/newcabin the tail numbers are all listed there.
I am booked on a business class from Stockholm to Chicago on October 10th. (SK 945) Do they have the new seats? I would appreciate a replay. Thanks in advance.
Ursula
Just booked EWR - HKG with SAS, both flights show up as the new retrofitted planes. I see plenty of availabilities with Lifemiles. 150k round trip using the 145% buy miles promo.
Hi,
I'm booked on a SAS business class trip Copenhagen to Chicago in late September 2015. The seat map stil shows the 2-2-2 configuaration. Early October I will be flying SAS business class from Washington DC to Copenhagen. Anyone who knows if there is a chance of flying the refreshed cabin on either of the legs? Thanks. :)
The new business class is really nice, one of the best now in Europe
I booked a business class seat from SFO to CPH for the end of August 2015. I was told by a sales person at SAS that the new lie flat seats would be in place by then, so I went ahead and booked it through Vayama.
Now I cant get through to SAS or to find out if the seats have been installed. I think their phone system has got stuck somehow.
The old 170 degrees seats feel like sloping ironing boards.
Any news?
Thanks, Karin
@ karin -- I haven't heard it confirmed one way or another for that route yet.
@Lucky @No Name
Yeah, award space on SAS Business is frankly really hard to come by, even for SAS Diamond members unfortunately. I had to use the "best availability" award option when booking the inaugural, which ended up costing 125 000 EB-points one way. On another hand, the cost was brought "down" to 112 500 EB-points, once the elite qualifying and redeemable points were credited to my account afterwards. The flights also counted towards my...
@Lucky @No Name
Yeah, award space on SAS Business is frankly really hard to come by, even for SAS Diamond members unfortunately. I had to use the "best availability" award option when booking the inaugural, which ended up costing 125 000 EB-points one way. On another hand, the cost was brought "down" to 112 500 EB-points, once the elite qualifying and redeemable points were credited to my account afterwards. The flights also counted towards my elite qualifying segments.
@Chris - My latest information tells me that the first A340 will be sent to Zürich for cabin upgrades in August.
Any updates as to when the current A340s will start updating? I am looking to fly SAS from DC in August and the IAD-CPH route is more convenient that connecting via Newark, although the flight to CPH still shows the old Business seat map.
@Lucky
Any more plans on that SK review Ben?
The first review in english is up, curtsy of Cecilie that posted above
http://bonusfeber.no/review-new-sas-business-copenhagen-new-york/
@ No Name -- Would really like to, but never seem to see award space for the dates I need.
Hey Ben, just a heads up. It looks like there will be a delay to the first re-configured aircraft, as it is also in Zürich for its C-check. Anywhere from mid- to late-February should be a more realistic launch time.
@ Cecile -- Awesome, thanks for the heads up!
Hi Lucky, I just booked an SAS business class flight from CPH to SFO for next May but the website and expert flyer's seat map still shows the old 2-2-2 configuration. Do you know if this might change closer to departure or is SFO low down on the list for the A340 reconfiguration. Thanks!
@ Daniel -- There's definitely a chance it could change, though I wouldn't count on it.
YES! Of course I do! ;-) Hopefully I'll be taking a trip to Tokyo or San Francisco on it sometime next year! Reconfiguration should be completed fleet-wide by Q4 2015.