According to a report published by the Swedish financial daily Dagens Industri (DI), Scandinavian Airlines, which serves as the flag carrier for Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, is planning to cancel approximately 4,000 flights this summer as a result of staffing shortages and delayed deliveries of aircraft.
According to the DI report that was released on Tuesday, the staffing shortages are the consequence of the COVID-19 epidemic. As a result of the pandemic, some 5,000 workers were let go as demand for international and local flights dropped, Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.
In order to prevent customers from being left stranded, an official from the airline with headquarters in Stockholm said that the majority of the cancelled flights will be rescheduled for the same day. After disclosing that it was experiencing financial difficulties, the airline revealed the news of the cancellations less than three months later.
The company’s profits before taxes for the period of November 2021 to January 2022 were reported to be a minus 2.6 billion Swedish crowns (about 260 million USD), according to an interim financial report that was made public in February. The overall income was down 42% as compared to the same time period in 2019, before the COVID-19 epidemic began.
As a result, SAS made the announcement that it will “vigorously seek” the reduction of expenses by 7.5 billion Swedish crowns annually. This would be accomplished, among other things, by modifying its fleet and product offerings.
