SAS to take first A321neo(LR) in late 3Q20

SAS Scandinavian Airlines (SK, Copenhagen Kastrup) has announced in a press release that it will begin A321-200neo(LR) operations on September 18, 2020, with Copenhagen Kastrup-Boston to be the type's inaugural route.

SAS plans to take three A321neo(LR)s initially to test customer response to the narrowbody long-haul jets. The trio is leased from Air Lease Corporation.

The Scandinavian carrier said it will equip the Airbus narrowbodies with 157 seats, including 22 lie-flat business class seats, 12 premium economy seats, and 123 economy class seats. It aims to offer passengers a comparable level of comfort and service to its existing widebody fleet.

For comparison, the carrier's current eight A321-200s are equipped with 200 all-economy-class seats each, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows.

"This is an entirely new aircraft type for SAS, which is incredibly well suited to the Scandinavian market and emerging travel patterns to and from the region. It gives SAS an opportunity to offer travellers more intercontinental routes, fewer stopovers and shorter travel times to and from Scandinavia," Chief Commercial Officer Karl Sandlund said.

SAS currently serves Boston 2x weekly using A330-300 jets. It has long singled out this service as heavily seasonal; it will operate 4x weekly in April 2020 and daily during the remainder of the Summer 2020 season.



"The route will become a year-round destination served on a high-frequency basis and will further strengthen SAS’ offering to North America. New routes will gradually be communicated later in 2020. The aircraft has enough range to reach the northeast US, but it can also reach destinations in Canada, the Middle East and India from Scandinavia," SAS added in the statement.