Menzies Aviation’s Post

What a week! Not sure how to make this post short and sweet. Three days was spent celebrating SAS - Scandinavian Airlines entry to SkyTeam, but it became a lot more than that with all the news that we had to share. - Let's start with Skyteam. It means a lot to SAS to finally be partnering up with an alliance that fully wants to cooperate with us. Already we have good network synergies with Air France-KLM, Delta Air Lines and more is to come. - Singapore Airlines is still a great JV partner making sure we have an amazing partner to the east with a great product and network. - SAS signing a wetlease agreement with BRA - Braathens Regional Airlines so that we can optimize the domestic network in Sweden. Not only will the timetable be better, but also more connections out of Arlanda to reach the world. SAS - Scandinavian Airlines is all about connecting people and places. - Copenhagen Airports A/S will become a stronger hub with not only an increased network, but also with improved connections from all our airports flying there. We will more than double the amount of connections that we have today which is simply amazing. - Introducing business class on our European network to align with our partners and to offer a better product for those connecting to an intercontinental flight in Copenhagen. ...and there's more to come. Stay tuned for more news from SAS - Scandinavian Airlines

✈️ Aviation Industry Updates 1️⃣ CSA Czech Airlines Exiting SkyTeam CSA Czech Airlines will officially terminate its SkyTeam membership on October 26, 2024. Following this, the airline will retire its OK-coded flight numbers, and its two existing routes will transition to Smartwings' QS-coded flights starting October 27, 2024. These changes are part of a broader business model shift for CSA, marking a significant turning point for the airline. 2️⃣ Vistara's Integration into Air India Vistara has stopped accepting bookings from September 3, with its final flights scheduled for November 11. The airline is set to merge with Air India, likely before the year ends, as part of a strategic transition. The move is closely tied to Singapore Airlines' investment approval. 3️⃣ New Low-Cost Carrier in Australia - Koala Airlines Koala Airlines, a new Melbourne-based low-cost carrier, is preparing to enter the competitive Australian market. The airline aims to provide affordable options for travelers and is already sparking interest as it builds its presence. 4️⃣ Scandinavian Airlines Joins SkyTeam As of September 1, 2024, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), a founding member of Star Alliance, made a significant move by joining the SkyTeam alliance, bringing a new dynamic to the global airline partnership landscape. Stay tuned for more updates as the aviation industry continues to evolve! #AviationNews #AirlineUpdates #AviationIndustry

CityJet celebrated a milestone on 10-Jan-2024, 30 years since its first scheduled flight from Dublin to London City Airport on behalf of Virgin Atlantic. Since then, the regional airline has undergone many changes in its customer base, geographic focus, fleet, and ownership. However, it has continued to concentrate on operating services for other airlines. It is now a leading provider of wet lease regional jet capacity across Europe. The airline's headquarters are in Dublin, and it also has a planning unit in London, but the majority of its employees are in Denmark and Sweden. This reflects the importance of its contract to provide wet lease operations to SAS Scandinavian Airlines. Since merging with Air Nostrum in Oct-2023 under the new holding company Strategic Alliance of Regional Airlines, CityJet is part of Europe's largest independent regional airline group by fleet size. Securing more long term airline customers is a key challenge, but CityJet is a long term survivor, with a track record of adapting to change. CAPA - Centre for Aviation CityJet https://lnkd.in/e2MNvtJH

Losing a Star in the sky, but still part of the Team Sometimes, when we look up at the night sky, we might think we’ve lost a Star. But more often than not, it's just found a new place to shine. The same can be said in the world of aviation and it just got a bit smaller and more connected. Now, you can travel from the southernmost commercial airport in the world, Ushuaia, to the northernmost, Svalbard, all under the same alliance. SAS - Scandinavian Airlines has always been ahead of its time. Back in the days, while many countries saw airlines as extensions of their sovereignty and were wasting money, three Scandinavian countries—Denmark, Norway, and Sweden—collaborated to create a system that has thrived for decades. Even before the era of airline alliances, #SAS was a pioneer: it joined Austrian Airlines and #Swissair to form the European Quality Alliance, featuring joint sales offices and common check-in counters. SAS was also involved in the ambitious "Alcazar" project, which aimed to form a single Central European airline that would have included KLM Royal Dutch Airlines as well. On May 14, 1997, SAS was a founding member of the world's first global airline alliance, Star Alliance, alongside Air Canada, Lufthansa, Thai Airways International, and United Airlines. This move set a precedent for the aviation industry and changed how airlines cooperated worldwide. Now, the aviation landscape is shifting once again. SkyTeam, another major global alliance, finds itself in a precarious position after losing China Southern Airlines, suspending Aeroflot - Russian Airlines, and soon saying goodbye to ITA Airways (which is moving to Star) and #CSA, which will disappear altogether. In this challenging context, SAS’s alliance switch is a significant development. According to the latest flights analysis from OAG, SAS is currently Star Alliance’s ninth-largest airline. At SkyTeam, SAS is set to become its sixth-largest carrier globally, accounting for about 5% of the alliance's flights. That's more than double its share in Star just overnight. SAS’s move is a reminder that change, while sometimes unsettling, is a constant in the aviation industry. As of today, SAS's Star is just shining in a new Sky, ready to continue connecting the world in new ways. #airlinealliances #airlines #scandinavia #oneworld #airtransport

Avia industry is broken. I’ve been flying at average 2 times a month for the last two years. Just a few highlights from that experience: 1/ only two times I boarded on time; 2/ last week I waited for 1,5 hours in Munich for my luggage after 1 hour flight from Pula just to eventually know my bag was lost :) 3/ the waiting time for the passport check in Heathrow is at average at least 1 hour. 4/ EasyJet onboarded people when they 100% knew the flight couldn’t take off due to closed destination airport. 5/ Train tickets often cost more than avia (Munich - Düsseldorf, or Amsterdam - London) And today the queue in Heathrow is 4 times longer than usual, so I have a good session of training a mental resilience while staying at least for the next 2 hours. 🙃 How comes it is only getting worse every year?

SAS - Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has signed a codeshare agreement with Air France-KLM ahead of its switch to SkyTeam. From September 1st, Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines customers will gain access to 33 destinations in Northern Europe beyond SAS - Scandinavian Airlines’s hubs in Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm, while SAS customers will gain access to 33 European destinations beyond Air France’s hub at Paris CDG and KLM’s base at Amsterdam Schiphol. Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines operate up to 200 weekly flights between their Hubs and those of SAS - Scandinavian Airlines in Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm, while SAS operates up to 65 weekly flights to Schiphol and 44 to Paris CDG. #airlines #airlineindustry #airlinealliances #skyteam

SAS - Scandinavian Airlines new route announced from Copenhagen to Atlanta clearly shows the advantage of being part of global joint ventures. For years SAS, not included in any Star Alliance joint businesses, in this respect A++ in North America, was only able to serve these routes in USA, that have had strong existing point to point demand. It’s partial acquisition by Air France-KLM meant an immediate invitation to the North American JV with Delta Air Lines, giving all customers more options to fly anywhere in US/MX via one of the biggest global hubs. Joining forces with biggest worldwide players opens doors and enable middle size carriers tap into very significant revenue pools. Some may say that market consolidation is a negative trend, as it may lead to higher prices. On the other hand, it enables more travel options and more competition between the alliances. Regardless, of who is right or wrong, it is exciting to see SAS grow. And it only makes me wonder what exciting opportunities are out there for carriers such as LOT Polish Airlines or TAP Air Portugal that, for now, have been playing a “stand alone” card. #avgeek #aviation https://lnkd.in/gHBhBBVh

It wasn’t so long ago, last year in fact, that Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary was quoted as saying “As long as we don’t do something stupid…..we will continue to wipe the floor with every other airline in Europe”. A level of modesty I’ve previously compared with Darth Vader’s unveiling of the planet destroying Death Star in the original Star Wars movie. And as recently as three months ago the boss of Ryanair declared “I’m not a believer in the package holiday business…..it’s a distraction” Now, at least according to reports emerging from the UK press over the weekend, O’Leary is not ruling out the launch of a holidays product, describing it as “a reasonable way of charging higher fares and yields….” What lies behind the potential rethink? In an interview with The Telegraph O’Leary conceded that #easyJetHolidays has been “reasonably successful”. Praise indeed and from an unexpected quarter even if many would regard it as something of an understatement. There’s also anecdotal evidence that holidaymakers building their own packages for summer '24, particularly to Mediterranean hotspots like Greece, Spain and Italy, have found it more pricey and fraught than anticipated. Few would doubt that #Ryanair has the financial muscle, the route network and the operational capability to make a serious play. Granted, it would take time to acquire the skills, build the team and strike the required partnerships but they do not appear to be in a hurry. The bigger question mark for me is around the brand. The Irish #airline is the cost-cutter "par excellence". They will fly you safely, efficiently and (weather, strikes and ATC permitting) punctually, to almost any European destination you can think of plus many more of which you were previously unaware. Returning to my #StarWars analogy - over the course of the last three decades, under O’Leary's Darth Vader style leadership and on its quest to rule Europe's skies (if not the Galaxy), Ryanair has established itself as the price leader, the airline that puts the 3p into C3pO. What they do, they do outstandingly well. But is the public ready for Ryanair Holidays? #aviation #holiday [opinions expressed are my own and do not represent those of any other third party organisation or individual]

SAS Scandinavian Airlines will add Atlanta to its US network in northern summer 2024, but will not resume two routes from secondary Scandinavian cities to New York Newark after launching them in 2023. It only operated the services from Aalborg (Denmark) and Gothenburg (Sweden) from Apr-2023 until the end of Oct-2023. However, the broader picture for SAS in the market between Scandinavia and the United States is looking fairly solid. Compared with 2019 – before the COVID-19 pandemic, and before the withdrawal of the low cost competitor Norwegian Air Shuttle from all three Scandinavia-US markets – SAS now has more capacity and a higher seat share. It has increased its focus on its hub in Copenhagen, making Denmark-US even more dominant in the Scandinavia-US market than it already was. Norse Atlantic Airways has only partially replaced Norwegian's capacity, and only in Norway-US. Against this backdrop, the demise of SAS' two Newark routes after just one summer season can be viewed as mere tinkering. CAPA - Centre for Aviation

The Power of Ordinary Actions Recently, my family and I were able to organise a long-awaited flight for elderly relatives, thanks to a route we found with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. As they were traveling alone and unable to navigate airport transits on their own, they relied heavily on the assistance provided throughout the journey. It reminded me how small, everyday actions can turn into something much more for those who need it most. KLM, together with avianca, provided the ideal flight combination. At Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the assistance crew was already waiting, despite a very tight transfer time, to ensure everything went smoothly and on schedule. What really caught my attention was how the staff's routine tasks—likely just part of their everyday responsibilities—made a significant impact. These small, ordinary duties, carried out with attention and care, turned what could have been a stressful situation into a smooth and memorable experience. It’s a good reminder that, no matter what we do, our routine efforts can have a positive impact on others—even if we don’t realise it at the time. Doing your best, no matter the task, can make all the difference. And what struck me the most was witnessing what I can only describe as uncoordinated coordination. Across four airports, multiple transfers, and different teams, everything worked together seamlessly. Even without direct coordination between them, everyone simply doing their part kept the entire process moving like clockwork. It’s the kind of precision you expect in aviation, but it’s still remarkable to see in action. Here’s an interesting fact: Did you know that KLM and Avianca are the world’s two oldest airlines still in operation? Perhaps this long history of experience is what allows them to consistently deliver such exceptional service for so many years. Thank you, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, for this experience and for your route coverage in conjunction with avianca; you were the only one offering the route we were looking for. I also want to thank the assistance crews at Cork Airport, Royal Schiphol Group, and Aeropuerto Internacional El Dorado. ✈ #KLM #Avianca #Teamwork #DoingYourBest #PositiveImpact