SAS cancels at least 1,000 flights in April due to soaring fuel costs

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) will cancel at least 1,000 flights in April as fuel prices surge, the company’s CEO Anko van der Werff announced on Tuesday, according to Swedish public broadcaster SVT Nyheter.

Van der Werff told business daily Dagens Industri that jet fuel prices had doubled in just ten days, forcing the airline to reduce operations despite efforts to absorb rising costs. “Even though we try to manage cost increases as far as possible, this is a shock that hits the aviation industry directly,” he said.

The cancellations follow earlier cuts in March, when SAS scrapped several hundred flights. In April, the reductions will affect at least 1,000 departures—though van der Werff noted the figure represents a small fraction of the airline’s 800 daily flights. “These are not drastic measures,” he added.

Most cancellations will impact routes with multiple daily departures. On Tuesday, SAS had already announced around 100 flight cancellations in Norway this week, citing fuel costs. However, the Norwegian pilots’ union claimed the move was linked to stalled wage negotiations, according to news agency NTB.