The switch over to SkyTeam as a founding member of the Star Alliance was a big leap for SAS. Scandinavian Airlines has now found its place in the new alliance and is looking at the future with greater confidence thanks to the Air France-KLM investments. That has translated in new flights and routes along with the latest announcement involving expanding access of premium airport lounges in many of Europe’s major airports.
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A Major Step for SAS’ Business Class Experience
This is a major upgrade soon to come for all SAS premium cabin travelers. The Scandinavian carrier will be expanding access to a number of lounges in many of Europe’s busiest airports.
It must be noted and highlighted that SAS expanding access, not opening lounges. What that means is that Scandinavian Airlines is partnering with lounge operators to have its passengers granted access.
SAS passengers will have new lounge access starting October 1st in the first airports part of the agreement.
Timeline for Expanded Lounge Access
The timeline for the new lounge access to become available to SAS passengers is rather fast. A significant number of them will become accessible before 2025 comes to an end.
First Partner Lounges Available from October 1, 2025
Specifically, the first lounges are set to become available to SAS elite EuroBonus frequent flyers and premium cabin travelers starting October 1st 2025. That date is just around the corner, meaning this is something that will have an immediate impact on travel experience in a very short time frame.
October 1st 2025 will see the first lounge come online with work ongoing to have these airports also ensure SAS lounge to premium customers shortly:
| Nice (NCE) | Malaga (AGP) | Palma (PMI) |
| Lisbon (LIS) | Venice (VCE) | Florence (FLR) |
| Naples (NAP) | Malta (MLA) | Madrid (MAD) |
| Milan Linate (LIN) | Manchester (MAN) | Edinburgh (EDI) |
| Prague (PRG) | Krakow (KRK) | Keflavik (KEF) |
More Lounges to Follow Throughout Autumn
However more lounges are set to partner with SAS granting access to its premium passengers. A more complete list of airports where work and agreements are being setup include:
- Bergen
- Stavanger
- Helsinki
- Aalborg
- Malaga
- Nice
- Alicante
- Palma
- Manchester
- Gran Canaria
- Barcelona
- Tallinn
- Billund
- Gdansk
- Vilnius
- Keflavik
- Milan (Linate)
- Faro
- Aberdeen
- Edinburgh
- Madrid
- Bologna
- Prague
- Wroclaw
Strengthening SAS’ SkyTeam Integration
The airports are either strong focus cities for SAS or locations where SkyTeam doesn’t have a strong presence and dedicated lounges. This move can be seen as a further integration into the SkyTeam ecosystem, by strengthening and integrating lounge access for SkyTeam travelers.
There are some major airports in that list and it isn’t completely unimaginable that in the future the Scandinavian airline might want to have a dedicated lounge of its own in some of them. For some destinations this might be the first step towards that final goal.
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