SAS Scandinavian Airlines

When an aircraft with a blue tail and the word “Scandinavian” on its belly floats in over Hamburg or Frankfurt, the identification is quick. It only gets interesting afterward: does the jet carry a Danish, Swedish or Norwegian registration, does it belong to the Irish subsidiary SAS Connect – or is it not a SAS aircraft at all, but a wet-lease partner? This page shows you how to classify SAS cleanly and what matters after the alliance switch.

SAS at a glance

SAS is the joint network carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. It was founded on August 1, 1946, when the three national carriers pooled their transatlantic traffic. Still in the same year it started flying to New York – a route SAS marked with anniversary flights to New York for its 80th birthday in September 2026. The merger later grew into a full airline with a domestic, European and long-haul network.

The company is headquartered in Frösundavik in Solna near Stockholm. Instead of a single hub, SAS works with three: Copenhagen is the most important, joined by Stockholm Arlanda and Oslo. This split reflects its origins – each of the three countries has its own hub.

The last few years have been turbulent. In July 2022 SAS filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US and went through a long restructuring. It was completed in 2024 with new owners: the financial investor Castlelake, Air France-KLM, the Danish state and Lind Invest. Norway had already sold its shares in 2018, and Sweden withdrew in the course of the restructuring.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code SK: appears in the flight number, so on the departure board, ticket and in most schedules.
• ICAO code SAS: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on flight trackers for flights of the main company.
• Callsign SCANDINAVIAN: this is how the crew identifies itself on the radio.
• SAS Connect: its own ICAO code SZS, but flies under SK flight numbers.

With SAS, it stands out that the ICAO code and the brand name are identical – which makes tracker entries easy to read. It gets harder when you ask who actually operates an SK flight. Why flight number and callsign can diverge is explained in the article on the difference between callsign and flight number. The logic behind the abbreviations is covered in IATA and ICAO codes explained.

From Star Alliance to SkyTeam

For spotters in Germany this is the biggest change of recent years. In 1997 SAS was one of the founding members of Star Alliance – together with Lufthansa, United, Air Canada and Thai. For decades SAS was thus a close partner of Lufthansa, and SAS aircraft stood in Frankfurt and Munich quite naturally around the Star Alliance terminals.

With the entry of Air France-KLM that changed. On August 31, 2024, SAS left Star Alliance, and on September 1, 2024, it joined SkyTeam. There, Air France, KLM and Delta are the big names. The differences between the three alliances are summarized in the overview of Star Alliance, oneworld and SkyTeam.

In July 2025, Air France-KLM announced it would raise its own stake from 19.9 to 60.5 percent by taking over the shares of Castlelake and Lind Invest. The Danish state remains a shareholder. Completion requires approval from the competition authorities, in particular the European Commission. Air France-KLM most recently named the second half of 2026 as its target – whether that works out depends on the review. Until then SAS is an independent airline with a strong major shareholder.

The fleet: Airbus, Embraer and partners

At first glance the fleet is tidy – at second glance it is a mix of the main fleet, subsidiaries and rented aircraft. According to SAS’s fleet overview (as of February 2024) it looks like this:

Type	Number	Seats	Who flies it	Spotter tip
Airbus A320neo	82	180	SAS and SAS Connect	The backbone on European routes
Airbus A321LR	3	157	SAS	Longer cabin, more range
Airbus A319 / A320	4 / 3	150 / 168	SAS	Older generation with smaller engines
Airbus A330-300	8	266	SAS	Long-haul, Rolls-Royce Trent 700
Airbus A350-900	6	300	SAS	Long-haul flagship
Embraer E195	16	122	SAS Link	Regional jet on shorter routes
Bombardier CRJ900	15	90	Wet-lease partner	Rear-mounted engines, in SAS colors
ATR 72-600	12	70	Wet-lease partner	Turboprop, mainly domestic

The figures are a snapshot. Since then the numbers – especially for the wet-lease partners – may have shifted. So take the table as a guide to the types, not as an exact headcount.

The largest share is the Airbus A320neo. With it, SAS has switched its short- and medium-haul fleet almost completely to Airbus; in September 2026 the airline reported that all 81 A320neos are equipped with Starlink internet. Alongside them still fly some older A319s and A320s as well as a handful of A321LRs – the long-range version of the A321neo.

On long-haul routes the A350-900 and the A330-300 are in service. The manufacturer of both types is Airbus. The Boeing 737, long SAS’s workhorse, has disappeared from scheduled service. There is one exception: for air ambulance flights of the Norwegian armed forces, SAS operates a converted Boeing 737-700 with stretchers and intensive care places – a rare catch for any logbook.

The orders: E195-E2 and new widebodies

Two big orders shape the next few years. In July 2025 SAS agreed to buy 45 Embraer E195-E2s plus purchase rights for ten more. According to SAS, the first deliveries are planned for the end of 2027, with the rest spread over about four years. That gives SAS Link the successor generation of today’s E195.

In June 2026 came the largest order in the company’s history by list price: up to 40 Airbus widebody aircraft. These include new A330-900s for long-haul growth and additional A330-300s that bridge the time until the new fleet arrives. SAS has not published an exact split between the two types or firm delivery dates.

SAS Connect, SAS Link and the wet-lease partners

Several operators fly under the SAS logo. For passengers that is barely visible, for spotters it is the core of a clean identification.

Operator	Base	Registration	Type	Special feature
SAS (main company)	Sweden	OY-, SE-, LN-	A319 to A350	ICAO SAS
SAS Connect	Ireland	EI-	A320neo	ICAO SZS, founded in 2017 as SAS Ireland
SAS Link	Sweden	SE-	Embraer E195	Founded in 2021, operating since 2022
Wet-lease partners	various	depends on the partner	CRJ900, ATR 72-600	Fly in SAS colors with their own crews

The registrations of the main fleet are a legacy of the founding: SAS registers aircraft in all three countries. An OY- on the fuselage stands for Denmark, SE- for Sweden, LN- for Norway. At SAS Connect you find the Irish EI-. How country prefixes work is explained in the article on country codes on aircraft; how to read a complete registration is covered in Understanding aircraft registrations.

On regional routes, SAS has relied on rented aircraft with crews for years. The CRJ900 with its rear-mounted engines and the ATR 72-600 with propellers are part of that. Exactly which partners they are has changed several times. What is behind the model is explained in the article Wet lease explained.

How to recognize SAS

SAS unveiled its current livery in September 2019 and first applied it to new A350s and A320neos. Typical features are a light fuselage with a large, silver “SAS” title up front and a blue tail with a white logo, whose blue extends into the rear fuselage. The engines carry the “Scandinavian” title in blue – and the same title appears in large letters on the underside of the fuselage. When one passes directly overhead, that is one of the best identifying features.

Then there are the Viking names: SAS traditionally christens its aircraft with names that include “Viking.” In May 2026, for example, an A350-900 – the newest, according to SAS – received the name “Frederik Viking,” in honor of the Danish king Frederik X. The name is on the fuselage and is worth noting in your logbook, because it identifies the aircraft unambiguously in addition to the registration.

For its 80th anniversary, SAS painted an A330-300 entirely in SAS blue in 2026, with a reinterpreted Scandinavian flag as a nod to the livery of the 1980s. Special liveries like this are sought-after subjects – how to track them down is shown in the guide to special liveries.

Spotting SAS: Scandinavia and Germany

You see the most SAS aircraft at once at the three hubs. In Copenhagen, the Flyvergrillen is the best-known spot – there you meet SAS Airbuses, E195s and regional aircraft every few minutes. Stockholm Arlanda and Oslo also offer plenty of SAS traffic, along with the Scandinavian competition from Norwegian and, in Norwegian regional traffic, Widerøe.

In Germany SAS connects major airports with the Scandinavian hubs. Typical are European routes with the A320neo, and on weaker connections smaller types too. Since the alliance switch the offering has been in flux: the former close tie to Lufthansa is gone, and the cooperation with Air France and KLM is gaining weight. So check the current schedule before you go spotting instead of relying on older reports.

Good starting points for SAS in Germany are the observation deck at Hamburg Airport, the Zeppelinheim viewing platform in Frankfurt and the visitors’ hill in Munich. For a comparison within Northern Europe, also take a look at Finnair, which as a oneworld member serves a similarly Nordic network.

Before you take up a spot, check the runway direction in use – otherwise you wait on the wrong side of the airport. How that works is explained in the guide to the runway direction in use at the airport. If you are new, Plane spotting for beginners helps you get started.

Common mix-ups

• Still thinking of SAS as a Star Alliance member – since September 1, 2024, SAS has belonged to SkyTeam.
• Attributing every SAS livery to the main company – SAS Connect, SAS Link and wet-lease partners fly in the same look.
• Taking an EI- registration for a mistake – SAS Connect’s A320neos are registered in Ireland.
• Mixing up the A320 and A320neo – the neo has clearly larger engines with thicker nacelles.
• Treating the A330-300 and A330-900 as the same – engines and wingtips distinguish the generations.
• Thinking SAS is just a Swedish airline – historically it belongs jointly to Denmark, Norway and Sweden, with registrations from all three countries.

Conclusion

SAS is an airline with three home countries, three hubs and – since 2024 – a new alliance. Behind the uniform blue look are the main company, the Irish SAS Connect, SAS Link with its Embraers and rented regional aircraft. If you note type, registration and ICAO code together, you can assign every sighting with confidence – and with the Viking name you get one more detail for the logbook.