Having operated its longest flight ever, from Peru to Denmark, five days earlier, an Airbus A350XWB belonging to SAS Scandinavian Airlines embarked on another long-range journey to South America. On April 7, 2020, the airliner flew from Sweden to Peru, as it is understood to bring back stranded passengers.
SAS long-range A350-900 (registration number SE-RSA), flew from Stockholm (ARN), Sweden, to Lima (LIM), Peru, on April 7, 2020. Operating the flight SK7030, the aircraft, named Ingegerd Viking, covered some 11,434 km (Great Circle Distance) in over 14 hours.
SAS schedule indicates that the return flight SK7031 from Lima (LIM) to Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN) would take place at 11:30 pm on April 7, 2020.
The flight is understood to be organized together with Scandanavian governments to repatriate citizens stranded in the South American country. It follows a very similar previous flight on April 2, 2020.
On the day, another SAS A350-900, Hagbard Viking (registration number SE-RSB), flew from Copenhagen (Denmark) to Lima (Peru) and back again. On the day, the flight 7030 covered some 11,086 km (Great Circle Distance) in just over 12 hours, bringing back some 290 Scandinavian travelers and breaking the airline’s longest-ever non-stop route record along the way. The repatriation flight was organized together with the Danish Foregin Affairs Ministry.
Revealing its latest traffic figures on April 7, 2020, SAS outlined in a statement that while it continues to operate flights for public authorities, that include bringing home stranded citizens and transporting critical medical equipment, these operations do not compensate for the “significant” revenue loss due to the travel restrictions.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions, SAS cut over 45% of its capacity (in comparison to previous year). “During April, almost all flights will be cancelled except for a few domestic routes in Norway and Sweden,” read the company’s statement.
Previously, on April 3, the airline stated it would cease to operate all but four domestic destinations, leaving only one aircraft in service (an A320) starting from April 6, 2020.