Scandinavian carrier SAS to stop serving year-round Bangkok route after April 7

Leading Scandinavian carrier SAS recently announced it will stop its flight operations to Thailand from next year. The airline in a statement said that there will no longer be SAS flights services on the Bangkok route after April 7, 2013. The year-round service is being permanently discontinued after 63 years of flight operations here.

The airline started its flights services to Bangkok in 1949. The Thai capital Bangkok was also the airline’s first ever destination in the Far East.

SAS is citing several reasons behind the stopping of flights services to Bangkok, particularly during the summer months.

According to the airline, it is currently grappling with high labor and social costs, and is increasingly finding itself difficult in competing with carriers like Thai Airways. The airline is also facing growing competition from Gulf carriers, which are offering low fares to the customers.

SAS further stated that the main reason why it is permanently stopping operations on Bangkok route is that it wants to better utilize its long distance fleet and make it more profitable during this time of the year.
The airline said that Copenhagen is its main hub and most of SAS customers originate from Stockholm and Oslo.