The management writes in an internal email to the employees, reports the Norwegian business website E24.no.

The airline SAS SAS +0.3% has opted for European-made Airbus aircraft over American-made Boeing in its procurement of between 40 and 50 new aircraft for short- and medium-haul routes. The total cost is expected to be between 25 and 30 billion kronor.

SAS chief executive Rickard Gustafsson revealed back in December that the choice was between Boeing's 737 Max and the Airbus A320 series. It is now clear that the latter was chosen.

”We are pleased to announce that we are now in final negotiations with Airbus, with the goal of signing a final agreement in spring 2018 for a large order of new medium-haul aircraft,” wrote SAS management in an email to employees, which E24.no has seen.

The plan is scheduled to be delivered in 2021.

In connection with deliveries, SAS is moving towards a streamlining of the aircraft fleet as the older aircraft being phased out are SAS's remaining Boeing planes. A future unified Airbus fleet will mean coordination gains for SAS regarding both service and maintenance costs, as well as the pilot organisation, writes E24.no.

Source: di.se