SAS to leave Star Alliance and join SkyTeam ‘in Q2’

As we covered last October, Scandinavian airline SAS is to leave Star Alliance and join SkyTeam after Air France KLM bought a stake in the carrier.

Air France KLM has formed a consortium with financial firms Castlelake and Lind Invest, together with a contribution from the Danish government, to acquire the airline.

Initially, Castlelake will be the largest shareholder with 32% followed by the Danish government with 26%. Air France KLM will cap its shareholding at 19.9% for now. Some equity will be given to existing creditors.

Importantly, Air France KLM has agreed that – after no less than two years – it can take a controlling stake in the airline by acquiring shares from other investors.

It was confirmed back in October that SAS will leave Star Alliance – of which it was a founding member – and join Air France KLM (and Virgin Atlantic) in SkyTeam. The airline will restructure itself to provide greater feed into the existing Air France and KLM operations in Paris and Amsterdam.

According to reports from the Air France KLM 2023 results presentation last week, which I couldn’t independently verify, it was stated on a conference call that SAS is now expected to exit Star Alliance in Q2, so between April and June 2024.

It will then join SkyTeam ‘imminently’ afterwards.

There has been no announcement as to whether the SAS EuroBonus loyalty programme will be closed and folded into Flying Blue, or if it will be kept separate.

I expect Lufthansa to launch a status match into Miles & More for SAS EuroBonus members. This is what usually happens when an airline switches alliances, with the nearest geographic partner swooping in to try to hoover up members before they are lost.

Our full guide to earning SAS EuroBonus points from UK credit cards is here.

What about the transatlantic joint venture?

What WON’T happen in Q2 is for SAS to join the transatlantic joint venture operated by Virgin Atlantic, Delta Air Line, KLM and Air France. This requires multiple Government approvals, including from the UK I assume, because it will impact competition across the Atlantic.

What might make the process harder is that SAS is NOT in the current Star Alliance transatlantic joint venture with the Lufthansa Group carriers and United Airlines.

This means that there will, without be a doubt, be a lessening of transatlantic competition if SAS joins the SkyTeam joint venture. We will almost certainly see the end of the SAS £1,200 ‘no Saturday night stay needed’ business class fares from the UK to New York for example. Let’s see if the UK, EU and US authorities have an issue with this.

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How to earn Flying Blue miles from UK credit cards (April 2024)

Air France and KLM do not have a UK Flying Blue credit card.  However, you can earn Flying Blue miles by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.

These cards earn Membership Rewards points:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 20,000 Flying Blue miles. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 40,000 Flying Blue miles

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 10,000 Flying Blue miles. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:1 into Flying Blue miles which is an attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 1 Flying Blue mile. The Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it.