Blue1 to Phase out Avro RJ-85

In order to strengthen the SAS Group's long term position in Finland and improve the profitability in Blue1, the group has decided to phase out the remaining 5 Avro RJ-85 aircraft and streamline to Boeing 717.

The phase out of the Avro fleet is expected to start in August 2011 and will result in maximum 85 redundancies within Blue1.

The refocus on the Finnish market will also result in closure of a number of European destinations. Some capacity adjustments will also be made on Finnish domestic routes. At the same time, the Tampere-Copenhagen route will be opened.

John Dueholm, Deputy President & CEO, said, "We strongly believe this is an important step for Blue1 in order to strengthen its position in the Nordic market. The streamlining of the fleet is in line with the SAS Group's ambition to simplify and harmonize the fleet at our home bases. This is also consistent with our Core SAS strategy to focus on the Nordic region as our home market."

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