Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) was founded on August 1, 1946, when the flag carriers of Denmark, (Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S, founded in 1918), Sweden (AB Aerotransport, founded in 1924) and Norway (Det Norske Luftfartselskap, founded in 1927) decided to work together to control Scandinavian air traffic.
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Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) was founded on August 1, 1946, when the flag carriers of Denmark, (Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S, founded in 1918), Sweden (AB Aerotransport, founded in 1924) and Norway (Det Norske Luftfartselskap, founded in 1927) decided to work together to control Scandinavian air traffic.
Already in the first year of existence the first intercontinental flight, Stockholm – New York was operated.
In 1951 the parent companies were eventually merged to one single company, the SAS consortium. Its shares were divided among SAS Denmark (28.6%), SAS Norway (28.6%) and SAS Sweden (42.8%).
SAS became the first airline in the world to operate a scheduled flight via the polar route from Copenhagen to Los Angeles in 1954. Many American celebrities used the route to fly to Europe, which made the airline quite famous. In 1957 the polar route to Tokyo via Anchorage was added.
The jet age for SAS began in 1959 with the introduction of the first Caravelles to the fleet. One year later SAS opened its first hotel, which marked the beginning of the success story of the company’s second branch.
The era of wide-body jets began in 1971 when the first Boeing 747 joined SAS. Today they do not own any anymore.
The Scandinavian airline was the most punctual airline in Europe in the year 1982 for the first time and declared “Airline of the Year” by Air Transport World in 1983.
During the 80s and 90s SAS gained full or partial control of most local Scandinavian airlines and strengthened their position as the leading Scandinavian carrier.
SAS was a founding member of Star Alliance in 1997.
In June 2001 the company was reorganized in a holding company giving Sweden (21.4%), Norway (14.3%) and Denmark (14.3%). The remaining 50% were in public hands.
In 2006 SAS owned a fleet of over 150 aircraft with an average age of a little less than 10 years.
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