SAS Group

SAS AB
Company typePrivate
State-owned enterprise (Partly)
ISINSE0003366871
IndustryAviation
Founded1946; 78 years ago (1946), merger of ABA (1924), DDL (1918), and DNL (1927)
HeadquartersSAS Frösundavik Office Building, Solna, Stockholm, Sweden
Area served
Europe
Key people
Carsten Dilling (Chairman)
Anko van der Werff (CEO)
ServicesAirline services
RevenueDecrease 13.96 billion kr (2021)[1]
Increase −5.49 billion kr (2021)[1]
Increase −6.53 billion kr (2021)[1]
Total assetsDecrease 52.71 billion kr (2021)[1]
Total equityDecrease 6.42 billion kr (2021)[1]
Owner
Number of employees
7,532 (2021)[1]
Subsidiaries
Websitewww.sasgroup.net

SAS AB,[2] trading as SAS Group, is a Swedish airline holding company headquartered in Solna Municipality, Sweden. It is the owner of the airlines Scandinavian Airlines, SAS Link, and SAS Connect.

As of 2024, SAS Group is owned by a group of shareholders including the American investment fund Castlelake, L.P. (in turn controlled by Brookfield Asset Management[3]) with a 32% stake, the Government of Denmark (through the Ministry of Finance) with a 25.8% stake, Air France-KLM with a 19.9% stake and the Danish family office Lind Invest with a 8.6% stake. This ownership structure emerged after the company exited U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2024, a process initiated in July 2022 due to the group's financial difficulties.[4]

SAS was formed as a consortium in 1951, as a merger between the three Scandinavian flag carriers Aerotransport (ABA - Sweden), Det Danske Luftfartselskab (DDL - Denmark), and Det Norske Luftfartselskap (DNL - Norway), after the three had been cooperating on international routes since 1946.[5]

Until 2001, the three national companies owned a fixed share of the SAS Group, after which the shares of the three companies were merged into SAS AB.[6] Norway sold its final 9.88% stake in June 2018, marking the end of its involvement in SAS after being a part-owner since 1946. The Swedish government maintained a 21.8% stake until the 2024 restructuring.[7]

SAS Group previously owned various entities, including Rezidor Hotel Group (owner of the Radisson SAS brand) and Braathens. It also had a minority interest in bmi, airBaltic, Texas Air, Thai Airways International, and LAN Airlines. SAS also once owned 19.9% of the now defunct Spanish airline Spanair as well as shares in Estonian Air and Skyways Express.

SAS was a founder of the Amadeus Computerised Reservation System and the Star Alliance, which it announced and left on 31 August 2024.[8] SAS runs the frequent flyer program EuroBonus.

  1. ^ a b c d e f "SAS Group 2021 Annual Report" (PDF). SAS Group. Retrieved 2022-06-02.
  2. ^ "SAS AB Company Profile | Solna, Stockholm, Sweden | Competitors, Financials & Contacts - Dun & Bradstreet". Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  3. ^ www.castlelake.com/article/brookfield-and-castlelake-complete-strategic-partnership-transaction/
  4. ^ Terje Solsvik and Marie Mannes (August 28, 2024). "Scandinavian airline SAS hails 'new era' as it exits US bankruptcy process". Reuters.
  5. ^ "History milestones - SAS". www.sasgroup.net. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  6. ^ Regeringskansliet, Regeringen och (2015-01-23). "SAS AB (SAS)". Regeringskansliet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  7. ^ Vanja Popovic (3 July 2024). "SAS restructuring plan gets EU green light".
  8. ^ Smith, Gordon (2024-04-09). "SAS Scandinavian Airlines Quits Star Alliance: 6 Key Questions Answered". Skift. Retrieved 2024-08-30.