SAS Scandinavian Airlines (SK, Copenhagen Kastrup) is planning to launch A321-200neo(LR) operations in Summer 2020 with three units initially to "test the market", CEO Rickard Gustafson said during a quarterly investor call on February 27, 2019.
"The idea here is that we are testing this in a rather small scale to start with to see what type of response we get from the market. As you know, we are keen to drive profitable growth, rather than growth for the sake of growth, and that’s why you also start in the rather small scale by getting us to three aircraft starting ourselves summer next year," Gustafson said.
Short of disclosing any specific routes, Gustafson added that SAS will look at operating the A321neo(LR)s to destinations on the US East Coast, in India, and the Middle East. The type could also be used on direct long-haul services from secondary cities in Scandinavia.
"The idea then would be to connect maybe some secondary cities in Scandinavia to primary cities in our network, long-haul network. Not a decision but as an example, I’d like to mention Gothenburg Landvetter-New York or Bergen-New York," Gustafson added.
Additionally, the type could also be used to respond to lower demand to some destinations in the winter season.
"An example of what this would look like and how we think about this is to mention Boston. We know that we can operate Boston with a widebody aircraft from Scandinavia. The demand is there during the summer season, but it’s not economical to do that during the winter season. But with the combination of widebodies and the narrowbody 321 long range, we could see a scenario where we operate Boston full year," Gustafson explained.
The carrier will equip the A321neo(LR)s with a three-class cabin with a dedicated business class.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, SAS currently operates twenty-four A320-200neo (nine of them through its subsidiary SAS Scandinavian Airlines Ireland (SZS, London Heathrow)) and has a further sixty-one units of the type on order from Airbus. The carrier's narrowbody fleet also includes four A319-100s, eleven A320-200s, eight A321-200s, five B737-600s, twenty-seven B737-700s, and twenty-nine B737-800s.