SAS Is Betting Bigger on America While Air France-KLM Circles

Scandinavian airline SAS has published its summer 2027 plans, and the biggest moves point across the Atlantic. Copenhagen to Atlanta goes from five weekly flights to daily, while Copenhagen to Seattle rises from four to five a week. Both cities are hubs for Delta, SAS’s partner in the SkyTeam alliance, so the extra flights also mean more one-stop connections deeper into the United States. Washington, Tokyo and Seoul each move from six weekly departures to daily service.

Chicago and Mumbai will not gain frequencies but will get bigger aircraft. SAS says its Airbus A350 replaces the A330 on both routes, and Simple Flying reports the swap adds 34 seats per departure. For Mumbai it will also be the route’s first full summer season. Closer to home, SAS is thickening several European routes from Copenhagen, including more flights to Stockholm, Geneva, Barcelona and Venice, according to Simple Flying’s breakdown of the schedule.

There are two new leisure routes as well. Copenhagen to Ljubljana will run twice weekly between June 25 and August 6, 2027, on a 122-seat Embraer E195. Copenhagen to Menorca will run weekly from June 30 to August 4 on a 180-seat Airbus A320neo, which SAS says makes Menorca its third Balearic destination. Tickets for both went on sale on November 10.

The timing matters. Air France-KLM is moving to take a 60.5 percent controlling stake in SAS, and its chief executive has said he hopes to complete the deal in the first quarter of 2027, subject to European Commission approval. For travelers, the practical takeaway is simpler: next summer there will be more ways to reach Scandinavia from the US, and more seats on the busiest long-haul routes.

Sources: SAS Group, Simple Flying