SAS is one of the European airlines which is most strongly trying to switch as many of its long haul flights as possibile to narrow body aircraft. The new generation of single aisle planes, such as the A321neo LR and XLR, allow to operate flights in a more fuel efficient manner increasing profit margins. Alternatively these aircrafts allow to operate flights from and to lower demand destinations while maintaining profitability. The latter is the case of the two flights we’re looking into with this article. SAS will be connecting Aalborg and Gothemborg to New York starting April 2023.
Big Apple Flights for Aalborg and Gothenburg
SAS will be seriously upping its game in terms of flights to the US in 2023. Just a few weeks ago we received news from the Scandinavian airline that they were to launch direct flights to New York’s JFK airport from Copenhagen along its daily Newark service.
This time also the destination of the new flights is New York, albeit Newark Liberty Airport, however from 2 secondary European airports. SAS will launch direct flights from Aalborg, Denmark, and Gothenburg, Sweden.
Two flights only possibile thanks to the newest generation of jet liners such as the A321. More on this later though. Both Gothenburg and Aalborg, respectively flight number SK917 and SK921, will get their very own 3 times weekly connection to New York City (EWR).
SAS SK917 and SK921 Flight Schedule
As mentioned above, both Scandinavian cities will have a 3 times weekly connection to Newark’s Liberty International Airport. Here’s how the flights will operate:
SK917 Gothenburg (GOT) –> New York (EWR)
| Flight | From | To | Departs | Arrives | AC | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SK917 | Gothenburg (GOT) | New York (EWR) | 18:30 | 21:05 | A321neo LR | Wed, Fri, Sun |
| SK918 | New York (EWR) | Gothenburg (GOT) | 22:30 | 13:15 | A321neo LR | Tue, Thu, Sat |
SK921 Aalborg (AAL) –> New York (EWR)
| Flight | From | To | Departs | Arrives | AC | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SK921 | Aalborg (AAL) | New York (EWR) | 18:35 | 21:05 | A321neo LR | Mon, Thu, Sat |
| SK922 | New York (EWR) | Aalborg (AAL) | 23:30 | 13:05 | A321neo LR | Wed, Fri, Sun |
The Gothenburg flight will start operations on the 28th of April 2023, while the Aalborg segment will start operations on the 27th of April 2023.
These are both summer seasonal flights for 2023, that will however be present in SAS’s network even in 2024.
Aboard the Airbus A321neo LR
Both these new flights will be operated using the SAS’s fleet of Airbus A321neo LR. This new generations of narrow body allows airlines to open flights from smaller airfields where demand might not be as high as in big cities.
The fuel efficiency of these planes allows to maintain profitability on sectors such as the ones we talked about in this post, while offering the advantage of cutting out of the journey a connection.
This kind of flight is certainly something we’ll be seeing more of from SAS and many other carriers around the world.
The SAS A321neo LR Cabin Layout
The SAS Airbus A321neo are, at the moment, all setup with a 3 class configuration featuring:
- 22 Business class seats
- 12 Premium Economy seats
- 123 Economy Class Seats
The business class cabin is setup with a quite peculiar alternate 2-2 and 1-1 with all seats transforming into lie flat beds. Premium economy is in a 2-2 layout while Economy features a classic narrow body layout of 3-3.
