Following joining the SkyTeam alliance on September 1, 2024, SAS, the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, has signed a codeshare agreement with leading SkyTeam member, Delta Air Lines. The agreement, which comes into effect on September 25, 2024, is aimed at boosting connectivity and increasing passenger choice between cities throughout North America and Scandinavia.
Through the signing of the deal, SAS customers will gain improved access to more than 150 destinations in North America via Delta’s main hubs in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle. Meanwhile, Delta customers flying from North America will gain access to 50 destinations in Northern Europe beyond SAS’s hubs in Copenhagen, Oslo, and Stockholm.
The reciprocal codeshare deal also offers passengers of both airlines the ability to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles (Delta-SkyMiles, SAS-EuroBonus points) on flights operated by the other carrier.
The deal comes just as SAS heads toward the end of 2024 on a high. The airline exited bankruptcy protection in August 2024 after two years, assisted by major investment from the Air France-KLM Group. It also revealed just days ago that it would be rolling out a new business class product offering on intra-European flights and launching a new direct route between its hub in Copenhagen and Seattle on the west coast of the US, a major Delta hub for US and transpacific flights.
“We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Delta through this new codeshare agreement, enhancing travel options between Scandinavia and North America,” said Paul Verhagen, Chief Commercial Officer of SAS. “With our new direct route from Copenhagen to Seattle, we’re strengthening connections to the Pacific Northwest offering more travel options for our passengers.”
“As a proud new member of SkyTeam Alliance, this collaboration offers great opportunities to provide seamless connectivity and benefits across our global network. We are excited about the possibilities and committed to delivering an elevated travel experience for our customers,” he added.
“As part of Delta’s mission to connect people around the world, our new partnership with SAS will strengthen our presence in Northern Europe by offering customers improved access to destinations throughout Scandinavia and a better overall flying experience,” stated Perry Cantarutti, Delta’s Senior Vice President of Alliances.
Interestingly, it would appear that this agreement will be of more benefit to SAS passengers than those of Delta. SAS operates direct flights using its own aircraft to all of Delta’s main US hubs where they can connect easily to a huge range of domestic US and international destinations operated by Delta and its partners. However, the reciprocal is not as true, as Delta does not yet fly from the US to any of SAS’ three main hubs in Scandinavia.
That said, with SAS having Air France-KLM backing, there is a long way to go yet for the carrier’s ambitions through its SkyTeam alliance to be fully realized. Delta, Air France, and KLM, along with Virgin Atlantic in the UK form a subgroup within the wider alliance called the SkyTeam transatlantic joint venture aimed at gaining a better foothold in the transatlantic air travel market.
Should SAS join this elite subgroup in due course (although no announcement regarding this has been made), then its position in the broader SkyTeam alliance would be cemented further. With its spread of European destinations from Scandinavia strengthening the Alliance’s range of connections between Europe, North America, and beyond, the widening of the membership to the transatlantic joint venture would help SkyTeam better compete with Oneworld and Star Alliance across the Atlantic.
