DALLAS — SAS Scandinavian Airlines (SK) has completely phased out all Boeing aircraft from its fleet after retiring its final 737 aircraft. The last commercial flight, from Stockholm (ARN) to Oslo (OSL), paid tribute to the aircraft’s -700 variant by tracing the number “700” in the sky with its flight path. LN-RRB touched down last night at OSL at 9:19 p.m. local time.
SAS has been retiring its older Boeing 737 aircraft over the years. The airline retired its Boeing 737-400 and 737-500 aircraft in 2013 and its 737-600 aircraft in 2019. Earlier this year, SK also retired its Boeing 737-800 fleet. The airline owns five 737-800 aircraft, with four of them dry-leased to Jet2 in the United Kingdom.
However, the carrier’s short-haul fleet is now predominantly composed of the A320 and A320neo models, with deliveries of the neo (new engine option) version scheduled to continue until 2025. In addition, SK has recently acquired three A321LR aircraft, allowing the airline to operate long-haul flights using single-aisle planes.
SAS Restructuring Process
Last month, SK announced its restructuring plans as part of the Chapter 11 process in the US, which includes Air France-KLM acquiring a 19.9% stake in the Scandinavian carrier.
The consortium, composed of equity funds Castlelake and Lind Invest, together with the Danish State and AF-KLM, will invest a total of US$1,175 million, which is composed of US$475 million in new equity and US$700 million in convertible debt.
This transaction should help SK emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024, though the deal is subject to approval by the bankruptcy court and regulators.
Featured image: Boeing 737-783, LN-RRB. Photo: Lorenzo Giacobbo/Airways
