Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) connects the United States with Sweden. One of the few airlines offering nonstop flights between the countries. They are the flag carrier for Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. There aren’t many U.S airlines flying to these countries as they focus on flying to major European cities instead.
This article explores SAS’s U.S and Sweden route pairings, their inflight experience, and provides a comparison of its service with other U.S airlines.
Who is Scandinavian Airlines exactly?
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is the flag carrier airline for Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Scandinavian Airlines handles much of the international flights out of these countries. The air carrier currently flies to 139 international destinations in 40 countries.
This puts them in a special company of airlines like British Airways and Etihad Airways, who each are flag carriers over many countries.
But for Americans, the airline does serve a special purpose. Nonstop service to the Nordic region of Europe from the United States is very limited. Delta and United each have some flights to these countries, yet only some not all.
It’s more profitable for U.S airlines to offer nonstop flights to the major cities in Europe like London, Paris, and Amsterdam. While yes, there is always going to be a demand for some of the major cities in Sweden, Norway or Denmark. But it won’t match what the airline would generate in revenue when flying to the major cities. So the major U.S airlines get you overseas and force you to connect with a partner airline to get to your final destination city.
This makes Scandinavian Airlines’ role more important for Americans. There is a demographic of Americans that want to fly nonstop to their final destination. Since no U.S air carriers offer that full service, Scandinavian fills that role.
Where in The United States Does Scandinavian Airlines Have Flights to Sweden?
For Americans looking to fly to Stockholm, you have one year round option and another seasonal option with Scandinavian Airlines. The airline’s international flights from Sweden involve Stockholm Arlanda Airport, which serves Stockholm’s 10.6 million population.
As of March 2025, Scandinavian flights to Sweden from New York via Newark Airport year round. They also fly to Sweden from Miami. But, this flight is only offered seasonally.
New York Via Newark
Scandinavian Airlines flies a once daily flight between Newark and Stockholm, in both directions. This route pairing is flown everyday of the week.
Scandinavian uses their Airbus A330 on this flight. Their Airbus A330s are configured to carry up to 262 passengers per trip. This means on this particular route pairing, SAS offers 14,672 seats per month.
New York City can almost be considered a lock for a destination city from most European airlines offering transatlantic service. New York City’s large metropolitan population always means there will be a demand for a route. New York is one of America’s international gateways.
It is interesting that Scandinavian decided to use Newark instead of JFK Airport. SAS is part of SkyTeam, a codeshare partnership with many airlines including Delta Air Lines. Delta uses New York – JFK as its hub city. It would make sense for SAS to fly to JFK, where Sweden bound passengers are able to use connecting flights on Delta to get to JFK. Once at JFK they would then continue on to Sweden on SAS.
The answer is that SAS used to be part of the Star Alliance. When it was a member of the Star Alliance, it was a partner of United Airlines. Since they switched to SkyTeam in September, they have continued to fly from Newark. They may look to switch to JFK in the future.
Miami
Miami, Florida is home to a seasonal route pairing. Passengers are able to fly with SAS between Miami International Airport and Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport. This route is only flown for a part of the year, two times per week, once daily in each direction.
Scandinavian uses their Airbus A330 on this route as well. It’s interesting considering the distance between Stockholm and Miami. The airline does have Airbus A350s in it’s fleet, but only 9 at their disposal. SAS also has routes to Southeast Asia where they typically use the 350 so it makes sense why they use their Airbus A330s on this route pairing.
With only twice daily flights per week, SAS devotes north of 4000 seats per month on this particular route when it is in season.
Miami – Stockholm likely serves mostly Swedes looking to enjoy a week long vacation in sunny Miami. It’s hard to imagine much American market demand out of Miami, for people wanting to head to the Nordic countries. It all likely causes both inbound and outbound flights on SAS between Miami and Stockholm to be Swedish natives.
Alternatives to Scandinavian Airlines’ USA Service
Codeshare Agreements
SAS is a part of the SkyTeam airline group. Yet, the only codeshare agreement that will likely benefit American passengers is the partnership with Delta Air Lines.
We already covered this in an earlier section. But the idea was, passengers in the United States are able to connect to Newark, New Jersey or Miami using Delta Air Lines. Once in Newark, or Miami, they will be able to board a codeshare flight with SAS across the pond to Sweden. It is a more seamless process for passengers. Normally, passengers will have to book their own connecting flights to the departure airports, stress about bag transfers, checking in etc.
Main Competitors
While it appears that SAS owns the sky on the route pairing between the U.S and Sweden, this is one American airline that presents itself as a potential competitor to Scandinavian U.S operations.
United Airlines
United Airlines challenges SAS on flights to Sweden from Newark, New Jersey. The only saving grace for SAS is that United flies their route to Stockholm on a seasonal basis. SAS dominates by having year round service, accounting for the majority of all available passenger seats sold for this route throughout a given year.
But one of the biggest pain points you can experience using SAS from the states instead of United is the price. It can cost you upwards to $2,000+ dollars to fly with SAS to Sweden on an economy fair. Compare that to United, which is less than $1000 for an economy fair.
What To Expect Flying With Scandinavian Airlines?
On routes between the United States and Sweden, SAS only flies their Airbus A330. Their Airbus A330 has only one standard cabin configuration. It has a basic economy class, a premium economy class called “SAS Plus”, and a business class.
Cabin Configurations
Economy (SAS Go)
SAS devotes 174 seats to their economy class called “SAS Go” on their Airbus A330. The seats are set up in rows of 2 x 4 x 2, with two aisles separating the columns. Passengers flying economy can expect 31 to 32 inches of legroom and a seat pitch 17 inches.
That is really tight, especially considering the seat width. It’s one inch less than what you get on Delta’s economy product on their Airbus A330s. The seat pitch is also less than what you would get on JetBlue’s economy product. Yet, United uses their Boeing 757s on flights to Stockholm, which does have an inferior economy seating product than what you get on SAS.
SAS Plus
SAS Plus is the airline’s more premium cabin experience. Passengers with a “PLUS” fare will sit in seats that have a width of 18 inches and provide 38 inches of legroom. This is definitely a much better experience than economy. The SAS Plus section is formatted in a 2 x 3 x 2 configuration and a total of 56 seats per flight are available.
Business
Scandinavian’s Airbus A330’s are configured with a business class. The business class has 32 lie flat seats setup in a 1 x 2 x 1 system. This section is very much on par with what you’ll get on most other long haul widebody planes from other airlines.
Scandinavian Airlines’ Inflight Services
Inflight Entertainment
Each seat has an inflight entertainment system. SAS’s entertainment system contains video and music on demand. There are also games and fun entertainment for kids. All which can be accessed through their touch screen entertainment system.
Power
SAS Airbus A330’s have in-seat power. But in economy, outlets are available every two seats meaning you’ll be sharing with the person next to you. In the more premium classes, each seat will have its own power source.
WIFI
There is WIFI on most SAS Airline flights. Almost all their Airbus A330s are WIFI capable. But, WIFI is not included with the standard ticket fare and needs to be purchased.
For flights between the United States and Stockholm, the WIFI will be turned on 20 minutes after takeoff. It will be turned off 20 minutes before descent. There will also likely be outages over the Atlantic Ocean as the plane will need to connect to different satellites to provide WIFI.
Food and Drink
On a long haul flight like the one between Sweden and the United States, you will receive a complimentary meal along with beverages like water, tea and coffee. There are other snacks, sandwiches, salads, available to buy as well.
Our Thoughts On Scandinavian Airlines’ Service From The U.S
Possible Areas of Compliant
One possible complaint is the lack of destinations within the United States that have flights to Sweden. But that is not the fault of SAS. With no other airlines really attempting to be competitive on this route pairing, SAS has the runway to dominate on this route from one city.
Another hurdle you will likely have to navigate is getting to New York City to catch a flight to Sweden with SAS. Luckily, SAS has a codeshare with Delta Air Lines which should alleviate some of the stress in the process.
It is not likely we’ll see an American air carrier begin to challenge SAS as they would rather focus on the larger European cities and create partnerships for connecting flights. Which makes absolutely sense considering there is much greater demand for the large European cities.
Finally, you will most likely be paying much more than what you normally pay when flying with United to get to Sweden.
But American Travelers Will Be Satisfied With SAS Service to Sweden
If you are considering flying with Scandinavian Airlines from the United States to Sweden, you are making a good decision. With such a unique route pairing that is hardly served by a fully committed American air carrier, SAS will be your best option if you are looking for year round travel.
Once you are onboard, Scandinavian’s product is pretty middle of the road to high end depending on what fare you are flying on. SAS Go might be a little claustrophobic for some, however it is pretty standard in what you would get on Delta. But it does blow United’s product on this route out of the water since they are flying narrow-bodied planes on this route pairing. Which can definitely be uncomfortable.
You cannot go wrong with SAS’s premium economy product. Their Business Class gets rave reviews, some saying that it may be second to Emirates Business Class.
In our opinion, passengers will be quite happy with the experience they will receive flying between the United States and Sweden.
Sources
https://seatguru.com/airlines/SAS_Airlines/information.php
https://www.flysas.com/us-en/travel-info/onboard/travel-classes
https://www.flysas.com/us-en/travel-info/onboard/food-beverages
https://www.flysas.com/us-en/travel-info/travel-extras/wifi-access
https://www.flysas.com/us-en/travel-info/onboard/inflight-entertainment
https://www.flightconnections.com/route-map-sas-sk
https://www.skyteam.com/en/about/press-releases/press-releases-2024/sas-officially-joins-skyteam
