In an effort to minimize expenses, SAS plans to return 10 wide- and narrow-body Airbus and Boeing aircraft to lessors as part of its Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection plan.
According to Airways Magazine, the Scandinavian airline has decided to return two Airbus A350-900s, three A330-300 wide-bodies, three A320neo aircraft, one A321 aircraft, and a Boeing 737-700 narrow-body aircraft.
Planes with the following registration codes may be affected by the most recent decision: SE-RSB, SE-RSC, LN-RKS, LN-RKU, LN-RKT, EI-SIF, SE-ROD, SE-ROC, OY-KBL, and SE-RET.
Data from Planespotters.com indicates that SAS has leased two A350-900 wide-body passenger aircraft from Japanese lessor Fuyo General Lease. The aircraft is 2.6 years old.
It has lease agreements with the Chinese company Bocomm Leasing for three A330-300s, the Irish lessor SMBC Aviation Capital for three A320-200s, and the Japanese lessor Itochu for an A321-200 that is 20.9 years old.
Additionally, the airline has a single leasing agreement with Irish AerCap for its 20.5-year-old Boeing 737-200 aircraft.
The airline now has a fleet of 111 airplanes, 20 of which it owns, but if the changes are completed, that number will probably drop to approximately a hundred or even less.
The action is one of the numerous cost-cutting steps included in the airline’s “SAS FORWARD” restructuring plan, which could result in a $696 million cost reduction for the company (SEK 7.5 billion).
In the Chapter 11 overview, which was released on July 5, 2022, the airline said it also aims to restructure its debt obligations and emerge from Chapter 11 with “a significant capital injection” that should help it “to participate in the market as a strong competitor for the long term”.
In addition, SAS stated that it hoped to raise capital in the first half of 2023 and end the legally mandated process within nine to twelve months of July 2022.
