SAS buys 50 aircraft from French Airbus rather than Boeing

SASSAS.Photo: Pixabay

SAS selected French when ordering a new plane. Airbus receives a welcome booking of up to 50 new aircraft.

 

In an internal email to the employees, SAS’s management writes that they are now in final negotiations with Airbus for a new aircraft order, reports E24.

“We are pleased to announce that we are now in the final negotiations with Airbus, with the purpose of signing a final agreement in the spring of 2018 on a large order of new short to midrange airplanes,” SAS writes to the employees.

Thus, US Boeing was dropped in favor of the European manufacturer when SAS decided to book somewhere between 40 and 50 aircraft for short and mid-range fleet. The price tag will probably end between 25-30 billion Swedish kroner.

The Information manager of SAS Norway, Knut Morten Johansen, says to E24 that they chose to be open to the employees regarding the airplane order to create motivation and to push forward the further restructuring work in the airline – where the goal is to cut costs.

“The decision will be taken by the board in a couple of months, provided that it also meets the goals set up in the In Shape restructuring program, where it remains efficient at 2.2 billion Swedish kroner,” he said.

The conversion has been ongoing since 2012, the same year as the company decided to buy a large amount of new aircraft for mid-range distances.

This week, Airbus announced that the company would stop building the A380 aircraft if not enough orders were received. The type of aircraft SAS would likely order, according to E24, are A320 and A321.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today