SAS Scandinavian is shutting down its entire operation

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• Howard says:

  15 Mar15 March 18:45

  How is cargo being affected by all of this. I would assume demand is much the same as it was a few months ago (if not increased given the need to ship emergency supplies etc), can the airlines justify flying a passenger jet just for cargo and if not, how will the cargo industry function?

  • Thomas Howard says:

    15 Mar15 March 19:39

    It depends on how much industrial production in hubs like China, South Korea and Japans been impacted. There may be nothing to ship, or no demand for products already manufactured.

  • Nick says:

    15 Mar15 March 20:50

    CX is already doing this. I would be amazed if IAG hadn’t gone the same way by the end of this week. 77Ws from LHR, A330s from DUB, keeping freight moving. Yields are skyrocketing for those who ‘need’ to move stuff around, and most major carriers have few dedicated freighters left.

  • Lady London says:

    16 Mar16 March 00:36

    Yes on some routes airline jets we fly in really are cargo routes. Cargo is what’s important. Passengers are known as “self-loading cargo” on quite a few routes but it’s cargo that makes the money.

• Dan says:

  15 Mar15 March 18:57

  Could this be BA soon? Surely not!?

  • Alex W says:

    15 Mar15 March 21:55

    Time to blow all our Avios on cases of wine…? Nah, it can’t be that bad.

• BSI1978 says:

  15 Mar15 March 18:59

  Obviously not the most important consideration at this time, but is there any truth to the rumours (hopes?!) that BA might extend the qualification dates/period for respective BAEC membership in line with Virgin?

  • Andrew says:

    15 Mar15 March 22:53

    Will Virgin status or points be worth anything by Easter?

    • Stu N says:

      15 Mar15 March 23:05

      I fully expect BA will have to do something. Its also entirely reasonable that they are dealing with the much bigger fires they have to fight at the moment so not holding my breath for an imminent announcement..

      I have a personal interest in this – I’ll miss out on Gold renewal by a couple of hundred TPs as a US trip in F has just been canned. I didn’t even think to raise it on the phone to the agent who sorted out my cancellation this morning.

      • Anna says:

        15 Mar15 March 23:13

        I thought there was something in a recent article about this – I recall it said you now only need 400 TPs for silver.

        • BSI1978 says:

          16 Mar16 March 01:50

          That poster was referring to Virgin….

      • Lady London says:

        16 Mar16 March 00:38

        Original routing credit might be possible – not previously in this partcular circumstances, have a look on flyertalk.

• Shoestring says:

  15 Mar15 March 19:05

  I can’t see the Japan Olympics going ahead this summer – but I already said that 2 weeks ago

  they are allowed to postpone it for 1 or 2 years, it’s in the contract

  • Callum says:

    15 Mar15 March 20:00

    Says who?

    Naturally, I no longer believe anything you say so looked it up myself and cannot find a single source for that claim. The closest I can get to is the Japanese saying that “technically” the contract says 2020 but it’s up to the IOC to cancel.

    • meta says:

      15 Mar15 March 20:17

      Abe is absolutely determined to hold the Olympics. He’s been repeating it since this started. It just depends how long until he succumbs to pressure. According to Japanese media, we won’t know until May as that’s when they have to decide.

      • Chabuddy geezy says:

        15 Mar15 March 21:34

        I think the bbc were reporting it is tough to reschedule the Olympics as the village is due to be given over to new owners after the games and any reschedule will clash with other events

    • Alejandro says:

      16 Mar16 March 00:33

      Says Mr. “It’s just a pussycat virus” 🤣

      • Andy says:

        16 Mar16 March 01:21

        Who would have thought a “pussycat virus” would effectively shut down airlines 😂

        Rumours of a shutdown on Tuesday for Iberia…

    • Lady London says:

      16 Mar16 March 00:38

      So @Callum what is your view on Polly’s question?

• M says:

  15 Mar15 March 19:19

  I’m due to fly SAS in the first week of April. While I appreciate the advance notice from SAS, I do wonder if they will persist with their current policy of not offering refunds aside from a timeboxed voucher that can only be used with SAS, should they still exist later in the year, and at a compeditive price point.

  I’m certainly no lawyer; however surely EC261 madates that in the event of flight cancellation a refund rather than a voucher? (note: not looking for compensation here, I doubt I’d win that one!)

  • TGLoyalty says:

    15 Mar15 March 22:22

    If the flight is actually cancelled you are due a full refund. If it’s not offered you have the ability to get your money back via a chargeback through your card issuer.

  • Lady London says:

    16 Mar16 March 00:09

    Covered quite a few times and recently on these pages.
    if airline cancels flight or significantly reschedules it (how much they can do this by is in the actual EU261 regs which you can google online and are very readable)….
    it is YOUR choice if you take a refund or choose to take a reroute. reroute = replacement flight. which must be reasonably close in timing to your original flight (you can negotiate this if you’ve got a reasonable airline – so forget Iberia, for one).
    It is NOT the airline’s choice to force you into a refund.
    if you take rerouting then airline also owes you dury of care, ie reasonable expenses for accommodation and food, some transport till you get your replacement flight. I fyou want a replacement flight far into the fuutre, reassure them you don’ want EU261 and some airlines will give it to you.
    In current circumstances no one is going to be getting compensation part of EU261. Best will be a redund if you want it, or a reroute+relevant expenses out of pocket and witin reason.
    Also, exceptionally, if all flights are stopped to a destination an airline may be able to deny you a reroute and force you to take a refund. That’s only happening now and possibly on the ash cloud. Very, very rare that it’s not your choice to choose a reroute and duty of care.
    Airlines like you to take the refund in normal circ’s as that means they are done and the matter (and expenses) are closed.
    In this circumstance, again exceptional, bcause cashflow has stopped on further bookings, but they still need cash to keep going till things settle down, airlines are making offers that involve you taking vouchers ratehr than cash. Be aware that a reoute “fixes” your price if you choose it and if it’s practicable, if you take a voucher you have no control over what the price will be when you use it. Jus sayin.

    Too late to tell you the rest especially asit’s easily findable in multiple coimments on the site and elsewhere but that’s the gist of it.

    • Lady London says:

      16 Mar16 March 00:12

      PS s.75 (only if you paid at least £1 or so on credit card not debit or charge card type) is only if it all goes to pants. Min. £100 cost on the transaction for s.75.

      Chargeback is weaker but if your card participates this is a fallback route.

• riku2 says:

  15 Mar15 March 19:31

  The headline is a very Daily Mail’ish. They are not shutting down the “entire” airline. At the press conference (which was not in english) the CEO said there would still be domestic flights.
  The headline doesn’t even match the rest of the text, because if they are shutting down the “entire” airline how can they run a “skeleton” service? Look up the word entire in the dictionary.
  Rob has written too many articles written for the Daily Mail.

  • Dan says:

    15 Mar15 March 19:38

    Comments like this make me feel like I’m reading the Daily Mail. If you don’t like it, don’t visit the site.

    Rob and the rest of the HfP team are doing a great job keeping up with and letting us know the latest developments during this time of unprecedented events.

    • Callum says:

      15 Mar15 March 20:04

      How do so many of you have such thin skin that you cannot tolerate criticism of someone you don’t even know?

      Don’t get me wrong, it’s amusing watching the mini tantrums when people dare question dear leader, but seriously?

      (And for the avoidance of doubt – Rob does nothing to encourage this behaviour so I’m not criticising him over it)

      • Polly says:

        16 Mar16 March 00:02

        Hey Callum,,less of the negs.. and give us an update from under your virologists hat please.
        Washing hands and keeping 1m distance from others, still the best advice then?

        • Lady London says:

          16 Mar16 March 00:14

          That would be useful. I admire Callum’s neutrality!

        • Lady London says:

          16 Mar16 March 00:41

          Australia has gone for 1.5m distance

        • Sandra says:

          16 Mar16 March 01:23

          Aussies were 1.5m apart when scrapping for toilet rolls on the video going viral on Twitter…

        • Sandra says:

          16 Mar16 March 01:23

          *weren’t

  • BJ says:

    15 Mar15 March 19:40

    He writes the headlines and and amends them as necessary to maximise browsing visibility and page views or something like that I think 🙂 At the end of the day he has a business to run just like the DM.

    • ChrisBCN says:

      15 Mar15 March 19:50

      I imagine it’s for SEO reasons (to drive traffic from search engines). That traffic brings ad revenue which is why we get the great information from this site each day without needing to pay a direct fee!

  • Scandinavian traveler says:

    15 Mar15 March 22:31

    Also, the CEO said that certain important markets would remain. Frankfurt and London was mentioned.

  • Nigel Havers says:

    16 Mar16 March 01:08

    I’m looking forward to the addition of a ‘Love Island’ gossip article each day to really bring in the crowds….

• Peter says:

  15 Mar15 March 19:49

  Radisson status extended until 2022 and points expiry deadline extended by 6 months.
  (Source: generic email communication from Radisson)

• Oh Matron! says:

  15 Mar15 March 20:08

  South Africa shot to uk citizens: Cyril Ramaphosa announces measures to combat coronavirus pandemic; https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2020-03-15-cyril-ramaphosa-announces-measures-to-combat-coronavirus-pandemic/

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.