Airline SAS traffic surges in June ahead of strike
2022.07.07 12:50
FILE PHOTO: View of SAS Airbus A321 and A320neo aircraft at Kastrup Airport parked on the tarmac, after pilots of Scandinavian Airlines went on strike, in Kastrup, Denmark July 4, 2022. TT News Agency/Johan Nilsson via REUTERS
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Scandinavian airline SAS flew more than 1.9 million passengers in June, a rise of about 220% from a year ago, but said on Thursday a pilot strike grounding much of its planes since Monday had impacted bookings toward the end of the month.
The airline, whose biggest owners are the Swedish and the Danish states, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States on Tuesday, a decision it said was accelerated by pilots at its SAS Scandinavia arm going out on strike.
“The notice of strike from the SAS Scandinavia pilots’ unions started impacting our bookings toward the end of the month,” SAS Chief Executive Anko van der Werff said in a statement.