Airline SAS is canceling at least 1,000 flights in April due to high fuel prices. This is what SAS's CEO, Anko van der Werff, said in an interview with Børsen and the Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri.
This is happening at a time when the company has also increased prices by introducing a temporary fuel surcharge. Around 300 flights have already been removed in March. The CEO points out that 1,000 cancellations in April sound like a lot, but that it represents a small part of the total flights, as SAS has 7-800 flights a day.
It will typically be flights on shorter routes with many departures that are being cancelled, for example domestic flights in Norway. The CEO does not expect route closures. In addition, flights to Tel Aviv and Beirut are on hold, and a planned route from Copenhagen to Dubai in October may be postponed, writes Dagens Industri.
"Fuel shock"
Van der Werff calls the current price increases a "fuel shock" to Børsen.
- We have no idea how long this situation will last, so there is no point in being overly hopeful, says the CEO.
Since the US and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February, the price of jet fuel has risen sharply. According to IATA - the International Air Transport Association - the price has increased by 76 percent since the attacks began.
Not all canceled SAS flights are due to the higher prices. There is also a strike in Germany, which is affecting flights, SAS says. According to NTB, the Norwegian Pilots' Union says that the stalled wage negotiations also play a role, and that there is a shortage of pilots.
- Then it is very convenient that SAS can blame the oil price and the war in the Middle East. They have not reached their goals with the wage adjustments, and there are a number of pilots who do not want to work extra, says chairman Carl Gilbert Rego.
/ritzau/
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