Danish Airline S A S Shuts Down In Bangkok

[webfact]

Danish airline SAS shuts down in Bangkok
BY ANDERS HOLM NIELSEN



BANGKOK: -- From April 1, Danish airline SAS will no longer be flying from Scandinavia to Bangkok after having done so for 64 years and all personnel has been laid off. The Thai department of the airline is shutting down completely, eliminating both sales and cargo and will no longer be needing the 30 employees.

Global sales director, Elisabeth Milton Hemmingsen, confirms the shutdown to standby.dk.

“It is a consequence of a traffic conversion, where we instead use the aircrafts on the new route to San Francisco and two daily flights from Copenhagen in the summer. We are seeking a solution with a GSA in Thailand for sales for winter traffic.”

“We see it as something positive that we can also take advantage of the new opportunities in joint venture cooperation with Singapore Airlines between Scandinavia and Southeast Asia,” she adds.

In November 1949, SAS had its first flight to Bangkok, and it lasted for almost 64 years. As plans are now, SAS will resume the route for the winter.

Source: standby.dk

Source: http://scandasia.com/danish-airline-sas-shuts-down-in-bangkok/

-- ScandAsia 2013-02-26

[lemoncake]

I guess SAS was not able to handle all the influx of tourists last year and further increase this year.

[nidieunimaitre]

Singapore airport is less likely to be shut down every once and a while....

Edited February 26, 2013 by nidieunimaitre

[Ricardo]

Interestingly SAS were also one of the founders of Thai International, with a 30% shareholding, providing operational, managerial & marketing expertise, and training-support for the early years, although eventually bought-out by the Thai government.

I remember getting on one of their planes on a sultry Bangkok evening, some 25 years ago, and getting out in -15*C in Stockholm the next morning, and having to wipe six-inches of snow off my car, in Arlanda's car-park.

But they can't compete with the Gulf-based newbies, or the European LCCs like Norwegian, who are coincidentally planning to launch Stockholm/Oslo-Bangkok flights this summer, if their B787s get delivered on-time ! The world has moved on.

Bye-Bye SAS !

Edited February 26, 2013 by Ricardo

[tw25rw]

I miss the days when they did a short hop BKK-SIN. Was the cheapest and best way to get there, much the same as the Emirates short hop to HKG.

[Yahooka]

First of all : SAS is cowned by the Swedish,Norwegian and Danish gov.

They already announced this last autumn,there was the possibility of starting the route up again for high-season only,but after avoiding bankrupcy in the 12 hour recently this move is no surprice.Shame.

[Payboy]

Didn't Thai Airways start off as a joint-venture with SAS back in the sixties?

[happynthailand]

I miss the R&R to Bangkok,back in the day 8^)

[sprq]

This is a very poorly written report.

1) SAS Is Scandinavian, jointly owned by the Swedish, Danish and Norwegian governments, not Danish.

2) It appears that SAS will resume flights in high season, but this is very shoddily stated.

3) "after having done so", wrong; "after doing so" or "having done so", right.

4) "aircrafts", wrong; "aircraft", right

and so on.

How come Scandinasia.com is so poorly written, in this case anyway? It looks as if the Danish was translated to English by a Dane less than competent in English, and then just left like that.

[NanLaew]

This is a very poorly written report.

1) SAS Is Scandinavian, jointly owned by the Swedish, Danish and Norwegian governments, not Danish.

2) It appears that SAS will resume flights in high season, but this is very shoddily stated.

3) "after having done so", wrong; "after doing so" or "having done so", right.

4) "aircrafts", wrong; "aircraft", right

and so on.

How come Scandinasia.com is so poorly written, in this case anyway? It looks as if the Danish was translated to English by a Dane less than competent in English, and then just left like that.

Maybe there are vacancies for TEFL'ers after all. Seems to be enough of 'em proof reading the TV pages!

Back OT... I used them once Bangkok to Aberdeen via Copenhagen on busines class about 4 years ago and was quite impressed with the price, schedule and comforts. Never, ever managed to get those super prices since. And agreed that their 'turnaround' flights to Singapore were excelent value as were Swiss's. But unless we book well in advance on Jetstar, the only options are to get your wallet raped by TG and stolen by SQ.

Why does destination Singapore command such a high premium for air tickets and hotel rooms? It isn't all that after all is it?

Edited February 27, 2013 by NanLaew

[peterbkk9]

Bangkok is among SAS's most popular destinations.

This does not make sense. Anything to do with April 1st?

[Lancelot]

I was suprised too but most likely SAS's cost structure does not allow it to be profitable at the market prices their competitors can thrive in

[Locationthailand]

I understood the northern tourism business was flourishing? Must have been a dodgy report from TAT by Thai media if that was at all possible...

[lomatopo]

Recently I think they were flying CPH-BKK-SIN (SK972/973); I used to take that tag-flight (BKK-SIN-BKK) often.

Competition, and budget travelers - not enough premium cabin traffic - probably lead to losses on this route?

I guess they can code-share with TG, and LH easy enough; booking engines show one-stop service via PEK and CA .

They are promo-ing the CPH-SFO flights (6 day service, starts ~ 8 April).

[BlackPuddingBertha]

"In November 1949, SAS had its first flight to Bangkok, and it lasted for almost 64 years."

I wonder who got the job of cleaning the toilets when it landed?

[stoli]

Bangkok is among SAS's most popular destinations.

This does not make sense. Anything to do with April 1st?

Yes, they notified the Thai government of the shutdown, fired all employees, moved planes elsewhere, all for a joke over a month from now. Very funny, don't you think?

[Mosha]

Bangkok is among SAS's most popular destinations.

This does not make sense. Anything to do with April 1st?

The start of the summer season timetable?

[IMA_FARANG]

I used to work in both Iceland and the Faroe Islands many years ago.

Took that SAS flight from Copenhagen to Bangkok and on to Singapore many times.

An overnight flight that left Copenhagen late afternoon and arrived in BKK about 6 a.m. for a landing in Bangkok.

At one time they had a joint codeshare flight wirth Thai International ... running flights on alternate days.

SAS trained many of the Thai stewardesses on their flights.Good looking young Thai girls made that flight a joy to take.

But their heyday was at least 20 years (or more) ago .... times changed.

[Mosha]

Talking to Danish friends, flights will return for the winter season.

[Kripe]

And what was the occupancy on BKK? - Great thinking to shutdown a route with good occupancy well done SAS, at least now there are even more room for Norwegian and Thai from Europe.

Why are you not expanding? Ii beleave you had some aircrafts parked in Tulouse? Why don't you start ysing them on your route to San Fransisco?

No wonder you don't make money.

SAS shareholder for years.

[Kripe]

Talking to Danish friends, flights will return for the winter season.

And shutdown San Fransisco, or use a parked aircraft?

[lomatopo]

Talking to Danish friends, flights will return for the winter season.

From the article:

We are seeking a solution with a GSA in Thailand for sales for winter traffic.”

As plans are now, SAS will resume the route for the winter.

So I read this as SK are adding a 2nd daily for CPH-SFO for the North American summer season, but may transition that (two birds) back to BKK next winter? Occupancy, i.e. load factors, are not necessarily a determining factor, it's really more about CASM and RASM, where hopefully the latter is greater than the former.

Edited March 1, 2013 by lomatopo

[belg]

apparently, people start to see thailand not as a hub of aviation anymore

[TheGhostWithin]

This is a shame for the 30 staff involved, my girlfriend (who is now with me in New Zealand) worked for SAS until 2 years ago. She loved the job, and the managers (who were Scandinavian) treated the Thai staff very well. The staff were paid very well in comparison to other companies (including TG/Thai).

She ended up working for another company, BFS (they wear the navy blue uniforms and red scarves) after she worked for SAS and had mixed experiences with them, some very difficult and was forced to work very long shifts for not a lot of baht.

Sad to see a good employer leave the Kingdom, even if it is only temporary as some say. Many other companies on the floor of Suvarnabhumi could and still can learn a lot from the SAS operations within Thailand.