AARHUS, Denmark—Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is looking to substantially grow the fleet of its in-house Embraer 195 operator SAS Link, and is considering how to develop its smaller-gauge wet-lease ATR and CRJ operations.
In its regional operations, SAS currently operates 10 Embraer E195s for SAS Link, along with a wet-leased fleet of 17 Bombardier CRJ900s sourced from Irish regional CityJet and six ATR 72s-600s from Estonian carrier Xfly.
Speaking at Routes Europe in Aarhus, Denmark, Henrik Winell—SAS network vice president—said the company has started to ramp up SAS Link, which launched with leased E-195s two years ago.
“We are looking at the future model for us for growing that fleet, and we see substantial growth in this platform,” Winell told Routes Europe delegates.
He declined to give specific numbers for the Embraer fleet growth, joking that it would be “much more than the 10” aircraft that SAS Link currently operates and fewer than SAS’ 90 Airbus A320 family aircraft. “Somewhere between 10 and 90,” he said.
When asked about how this might tie in with the future of the wet-leased ATRs and CRJs, Winell replied: “That is not completely set yet. We see a large need for a smaller-gauge aircraft to serve the thinner routes that we want to operate, which feed our network and our hub.”
Ultimately, it will depend on the cost difference between SAS Link’s 120 to 130-seat ERJ195s, and the 70-seat ATR and 90-seat CRJ900 operations.
“It’s not concluded yet, but we would definitely like to grow the Link fleet. We see massive potential in that one. Whether we want to plug in another smaller-gauge aircraft operated by a wet-lease provider—let us see.”
In general, SAS prefers fleet simplicity, so SAS Link is unlikely to operate other types beyond E-Jets.
“If we were to plug in another fleet type, that would be on another platform, but most likely on a wet-lease platform. I don’t foresee that Link would operate an ATR/CRJ and Embraer aircraft.”
Related Content
