SAS - Scandinavian Airlines

[Gray Ham]

Is SAS pricing itself out of the market? Yesterday I looked at a w/e in Copenhagen in April. Cheapest return fare ( out Fri, back Mon) was over £500 pp, with most fares in excess of £900pp. don't see th filling a 319 at these prices and needless to say I'll look elsewhere for a short break.

 

[ChurchFenton]

The CPH route has for quite some time been available for under £100 return for a long weekend for a number of dates in the coming months, so hearing of fares of £500+ sounds like they may be being sold as fully flexible fares, which in turn may suggest SAS are waiting to see how things go over the winter without encouraging too many forward bookings for next summer at this stage (April fares will fall within the summer timetable).

I have to say, whilst very disappointing, the low load factor isn't a complete shock, as when I had the pleasure a couple of weeks ago of using this service, the Friday evening flight from LBA only had a load in the mid teens, yet when I flew on it for the first time over the August Bank Holiday the loads were very promising (mid 50's out, maybe 35 inbound on the Monday). Perhaps the Bank Holiday boosted the UK loads that weekend.

It would be such a pity if this service is lost, as having used it twice in the past few weeks it's a very convenient way to start exploring Denmark and Scandinavia (have been able to go onwards to visit Malmo and Stockholm to date, as well as Copenhagen). LBA is a joy to pass through at 8.00pm and the CRJ-900 and SAS service are excellent.

I sincerely hope the Fri inbound/Mon outbound are keeping this route viable at present. Perhaps if there was a just a possibility of a Wednesday flight being added in at some stage, it may offer a higher degree of flexibility for travelers and encourage more to use the service, though expanding a route that may be low on numbers already on some rotations could be seen as risky.

 

[yorkguy]

Is SAS pricing itself out of the market? Yesterday I looked at a w/e in Copenhagen in April. Cheapest return fare ( out Fri, back Mon) was over £500 pp, with most fares in excess of £900pp. don't see th filling a 319 at these prices and needless to say I'll look elsewhere for a short break.

Yes, same with me. I wanted to go out on March 27 and back on the 30th. The price was £903. What a joke.

 

[leedsman]

Yes, same with me. I wanted to go out on March 27 and back on the 30th. The price was £903. What a joke.

I was looking at that very same weekend about 6 weeks ago, and the fare was around £90 return so something has clearly changed with the pricing strategy. At £903 they might as well take it off sale.

 

[imagineif]

Just looking at the new timings, they are really not that appealing to business travellers but I agree the CRJ-200 will make the loads seem better...having said that this older generation of the CRJ family is less efficient lol.

Who knows what is going on with those crazy prices, seems very odd - I know legacy carriers usually ramp up the fare a few weeks before but that far out seems like they are trying to kill it!

A 2.30pm Departure on a Monday & a 2.15pm Departure on a Friday - that really is aimed at the leisure passenger for a long weekend. It's a shame they cant stick in a Wednesday departure to make it more business friendly.

The route has just surpassed the failed Humberside launch which lasted 5 months and ended a week after they came into Leeds. I don't want the route to fail but I just find it a bit half hearted and insulting given the airport has proved its worth and is sustaining BA & KLM.

Time will tell.

Some definitely for my wish list is Madrid & Athens!

 

[whoshotjimmi]

I am booked onto flights that week that I bought for ca. £90. As I was booking, prices were rising. Could it simply be that the flights are full?

For the record, I think the price I paid is still on the steep side but the alternative was Easyjet from Manchester which, at the time, was selling at an even higher price.

In my experience, Scandinavians are prepared to pay a higher price.

On a side note, concerning the Humberside route, that was aimed at business passengers and flopped big style. We should perhaps be grateful for what we have before we start wanting more. If, indeed, SAS are planning to use an A319, one can only assume they think the loads demand it - it would be perfectly easy to leave it with the current machinery. The route was clearly set up for Inbound tourism. The change to flight timings makes it more suitable for 2 way tourism which should, theoretically, improve loads on the Monday inbound and Friday outbound.

One thing is for certain. IF people are paying £903, there will be no problem with yield!

 

[752]

Well it looks like Cimber airlines are ceasing operations as their relationship with SAS has come to an end, im not sure which aircraft will operate the route now

 

[whoshotjimmi]

Which potentially solves part of the riddle

 

[lbaspotter]

Well it looks like Cimber airlines are ceasing operations as their relationship with SAS has come to an end, im not sure which aircraft will operate the route now

The current 3x year contract that Cimber A/S has with SAS Scandinavian Airlines will continue to run until April 2015, so it will not have any effect on this winter's Copenhagen - Leeds operation which is been operated by there CRJ200's.

After April 2015 it sadly dose look like Cimber A/S will be closed down (130 employee's have been given 6 months notice period) as SAS Scandinavian Airlines has decided not renewed its contract to operate its flights any more. Hence I guess why it looks as though flights have been shown to be operated by Airbus A319 next summer instead..

 

[whoshotjimmi]

BAD NEWS!!

I have been contacted by SAS regarding my flights in March and have been told that the route to LBA has been stopped. I have therefore been rebooked onto KLM flights via Amsterdam for no extra charge.

The question is, is this just a temporary issue or has LBA lost SAS?

 

[AirBingley]

Have just checked my reservation for 22 June 15 and it's still showing live on their system if that's any help however the booking engine is now showing no flight availability on that date which means the likelihood is its gone!

 

[lbaspotter]

Sadly it looks like the Leeds-Copenhagen route is been dropped by SAS, The last bookable flight seems to be on Monday, December 1st. To be honest with you all I'm not really surprised looking at the current twice weekly schedule. The flight timings are no good for business pax wanting to connect onwards. I have been told several times recently by a reliable source that the CRJ900's has been running half empty. And to prove that you only need to look at the passenger figures and it all but confirms this. If they introduced the A319 next summer I really think the situation would have just got even worse.

If they had been in for the long term (Instead of this half hearted attempt) I actually think SAS were right airline to make the Leeds - Copenhagen route work using a CRJ900, But that's only if they had introduced a business friendly scheduled that suited onward worldwide connections. It's a crying shame as I honestly can't see any other airline having ago at it now.

 

[Bigman]

Looks like the LBA curse strikes again. it seems that every time we pick up something new (ie Stobbart Air), we always seem to lose something else.

 

[White Heather]

I had a feeling this was going to happen after hearing an advert for SAS on Heart Radio (based in Leeds) advertising SAS to Copenhagen - from Manchester. They wouldnt do that if they were flying from LBA. Very disappointing really as they haven't really given it a proper go. You wonder why they bothered in the first place! LBA management were so excited about this link and the possibilities for booking through to other Scandinavian cities. I don't think they ever envisaged that it would be axed within 8 months - 2 of which it didn't even operate! To me, it never looked like anything serious at all given the schedules and no flights during the summer period.

 

[jason1-11]

Manchester handled a whopping 27,000 Copenhagen passengers in September.

Had SAS given the route a proper schedule, I'm 100% sure this route would have been a winner from LBA.

 

[rmac]

It would be nice if EasyJet took it on. I am sure that better prices and better flight times would help to secure the route. My sister-in-law, who lives in Copenhagen, now prefers EasyJet on the CPH-EDI route compared to Norwegian. Last month she was over for a wedding and reported the flight full both coming and returning. Her only complaint - she handed over a 100dk note for 2 coffees and was refused change!
Maybe Jet2 would be interested - I think there is a market waiting to be tapped.

 

[yorkguy]

Maybe the £900 flights put a few people off booking

 

[Seasider]

With the failure of this route and CPH-HUY are SAS "grabbing at straws" with their route selection?

 

[cmj]

The LCCs may manage enough point to point traffic on LBA-CPH, but with a better timetable SAS could've opened up Scandinavia from LBA.

With the twice weekly frequency the route was never going to be much use to business traffic. I travel to Norway a fair bit with work, so it could've been useful.

I get the feeling they didn't really make a good go of it - what was the offering from HUY like when it was operational?

 

[Gray Ham]

Yes, it's a shame if the route has not really been given a fair chance. At just whom was this schedule targeted? Danes looking for a w/e in Yorkshire? Maybe. In reverse direction the very late arrival in CPH (23.00) on Fridays may not have appealed to many travellers from UK and takes a significant chunk out of a long w/e. Schedule appears not to have been suitable for point to point business trips or for bi-directional same day connections with the obvious places such as the rest of Scandinavia, Baltic States,Russia, and long haul to Asia. All this, coupled with the withdrawal of what looks to have been primarily a point-to-point leisure route during the summer season makes one wonder what more could have been done to make the route unsuccessful.