SAS Considering Flights Into Different London Airports

(RTTNews) - Scandinavian airline SAS AB is considering the use of other airports in the London-region after selling two slot-pairs at London's main airport Heathrow.

Last month, SAS sold one morning slot-pair and one afternoon slot-pair at Heathrow to a major international air carrier and Turkish Airlines, respectively. While the morning slot-pair will be taken over at the beginning of the summer traffic program on March 29, the afternoon slot-pair will be taken over at the beginning of the winter traffic program on October 25. Both the deals will have positive earnings impact for SAS.

Following the sale, SAS will have 19 daily slot-pairs at London Heathrow and will still be the fifth largest airline operating at the U..K. capital's main airport.

SAS currently operates from London Heathrow to Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Oslo, Stockholm and Stavanger. There are no plans to reduce its slot portfolio further.

SAS on Thursday reported a net loss for the first quarter of 640 million Swedish kronor, compared to a net loss of 112 million Swedish kronor for the year-ago quarter.

Revenue for the first quarter rose to 8.37 billion Swedish kronor from 7.87 billion Swedish kronor in the same quarter last year.

The company maintained its full year outlook.