SAS to 'Halt Most Traffic'; Layoff 90% of Workforce

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has said that because "international air travel is essentially non-existent", it has decided to temporarily halt most of its traffic starting Monday, 16 March.

The suspension of flights will continue "until there are yet again conditions to conduct commercial aviation", the airline said.

In the coming weeks, SAS will continue to operate the following routes and destinations with limited service:

 Domestic: All routes with few exceptions;

 Intra-Scandinavia: Routes between the Scandinavian capitals as well as Copenhagen to Bergen, Gothenburg and Stavanger;

 Europe: Routes to Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt, Helsinki, London Heathrow, Manchester, Paris, Reykjavik, Zurich, Alicante, Las Palmas, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Nice and Athens;

USA: Copenhagen-New York, Copenhagen-Chicago and Stockholm-New York; and

Asia: Copenhagen-Tokyo.

For the time being and to a limited extent, SAS will also serve other destinations in Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain and Turkey.

The airline has also decided to temporarily layoff up to 10,000 employees, the equivalent of about 90% of its total workforce.

SAS, a member of Star Alliance, normally connects three main hubs - Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm - with over 125 destinations in Europe, the US and Asia.

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