The airline SAS is considering temporarily stopping domestic flights due to the corona epidemic. SAS could consider a model that is being used in Norway, where the state selected the most important routes and then divided them among the players in the market and helped finance it.
– We will fly as long as it is commercially viable, but we see that there are fewer and fewer passengers and demand is largely non-existent, due to the travel restrictions that are currently in place, says Karin Nyman, Director of Communications at SAS.
How far in advance will it be before you will no longer fly domestically?
– We have not yet made that decision, but we see that day getting closer. We still have domestic travelers to some destinations with a very low passenger base.
Aren't the promises of credit guarantees that the government has made to the aviation industry sufficient?
– We are in a very difficult financial situation and it will be important that we receive the credit guarantees that have been promised, but we cannot operate when we are creating a major loss at a very rapid pace. We do not have cost coverage for these lines or are starting to have difficulty obtaining it.
Will SAS survive this period?
– We started with a strong financial position, but it is clear that things will quickly get significantly worse. We must be able to be persistent. The thing about these domestic routes is that we cannot create greater strain on the company by flying at a loss.
Source: sverigesradio.se
