12 hours Ago By Dillon Shah
SAS has today announced that it will be launching a codeshare agreement with Virgin Atlantic (VS), the only SkyTeam member based in the United Kingdom. The Scandinavian carrier joined the same alliance on September 1 and has since been expanding or establishing agreements with airline members including Delta Air Lines for example. This latest move will see SAS place its code on Virgin Atlantic flights arriving to both London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and Manchester Airport (MAN) from various flights including several destinations in the United States and Canada.
Flights from the US and Canada The arrangement also covers flights from the United States and Canada operated by VS. SAS will offer onward connections from LHR and MAN to the following destinations: Stockholm (ARN) Oslo (OSL) Copenhagen (CPH) Stavanger (SVG) Bergen (BGO) It is worth noting that while OSL, ARN and CPH are served by SAS from both UK airports, SVG is only operated directly from LHR according to Cirium data. BGO has no direct flight to either of these cities, although affordable and convenient one-stop connections are on offer with SAS, a quick search on the carrier’s booking platform finds.
The map below includes the destinations served by VS in the US and Canada, as well as SAS’ onward options to Scandinavia. The specific destinations in the US and Canada that are covered in the agreement are not known. The below demonstrates the entire VS network to the region terminating in MAN and LHR.
Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Atlantic said the following: “We’re delighted to launch a codeshare with our SkyTeam partners at SAS, enhancing our connectivity and offering greater customer benefits to our frequent flyers, who will be able to achieve rewards faster. As a fellow APEX five-star airline, we look forward to strengthening our partnership with SAS as we continue to broaden our global network.” Caribbean flying SAS new agreement with VS includes several other transatlantic services.
First and foremost, SAS says that customers will be able to take advantage of the following VS flights: LHR and MAN to Barbados’ Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI) LHR to Montego Bay’s Sangster International Airport (MBJ) LHR to Antigua’s V. C. Bird International Airport (ANU) Paul Verhagen, Chief Commercial Officer at SAS said: "We are very pleased to launch this new codeshare partnership with Virgin Atlantic, expanding SAS’s global reach and offering our customers even more travel options to new and exciting destinations such as Barbados, Jamaica, and Antigua, with additional destinations to be introduced later.
" This collaboration provides EuroBonus members with expanded opportunities to earn and redeem points across Virgin Atlantic’s extensive network, strengthening the value of our loyalty program. We look forward to building a long-lasting and successful partnership with our SkyTeam partner, benefitting travellers on both sides.” This agreement with SAS comes as no surprise on the Virgin Atlantic end.
In June, the carrier said it was working with the Scandinavian carrier to “offer new destinations, enhanced connectivity and a more seamless, elevated customer journey for all travellers.” The codeshare agreement was to be announced as SAS formally joins SkyTeam – which it did as of September 1..
