SAS ends A340 operations

SAS Scandinavian Airlines (SK, Copenhagen Kastrup) retired the last of its eight A340-300s on December 1, 2020. OY-KBM (msn 450), which was withdrawn from revenue service at the end of May 2020, was ferried from Copenhagen Kastrup via Tucson Int’l to Marana, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. The aircraft, which was owned by SAS, will be scrapped. The ch-aviation fleets history module shows that the Scandinavian airline took delivery of seven brand new A340-300s in 2001-2002. It subsequently added the eighth unit, LN-RKP (msn 167), as a second-hand aircraft from LATAM Airlines (LA, Santiago de Chile Int’l). The retirements of the type started in 2019 and were accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Only three aircraft remained active after March 2020. SAS is in the process of renewing its long-haul fleet with A350-900s, of which it already has four and is awaiting deliveries of a further four on firm order from Airbus. SAS’s widebody fleet also includes nine A330-300s. SAS was one of the world’s most prominent operators of the A340-300 when the pandemic struck. Currently, the world’s largest operator of the type is Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt Int’l) with 17 units. No other airline has more than five A340-300s.