At 13:07 on December 22nd, SAS’ first long-haul route using the A321LR pushed back, some 47 minutes later than scheduled. While just a one-off service, the carrier will deploy the type fully next summer. SAS will be one of 13 narrowbody operators across the North Atlantic, although only the seventh-largest. United will have more flights than any other operator.
United leads the narrowbody market
Some 13 airlines will deploy narrowbodies between the US/Canada and Europe next summer. They include Iceland’s PLAY, which has revealed Baltimore and Boston as its first US destinations. They’ll be served using A321neos, with more capacity and lower-seat mile costs than the new entrant’s other aircraft.
The 13 carriers are listed below in order of flights. It’ll be the first time since summer 2017 that United leads, replacing Icelandair. United continually reduced narrowbody use between summer 2014 and 2019, but its offering next year will be the highest since 2017. Its 17-strong network will include Newark to Bergen, Ponta Delgada, Stockholm, and Tenerife South.
- United
- Icelandair
- Air Transat
- Aer Lingus
- TAP Air Portugal
- WestJet
- SAS
- Azores Airlines
- Air Canada
- La Compagnie
- Play
- JetBlue
- Delta
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27,000 narrowbody flights
The 13 airlines will have over 27,000 round-trip flights, analyzing OAG schedules reveals. That’s 35% higher than in summer 2019, primarily because of more flights by United, Air Transat, Aer Lingus, TAP, and JetBlue, among others.
However, it’s still below the peak of 2018, when WOW (previously the third-biggest narrowbody operator in the market), Norwegian (the fourth-biggest), and Primera all operated. The loss of these airlines played a significant role in the big drop in flights in summer 2019.
SAS’ first long-haul A321LR flight
SAS currently has two A321LRs, with a third to be delivered. With 157 seats, they’re relatively premium-heavy. They have 22 lie-flat seats in SAS Business, 12 seats in SAS Plus, and 123 in SAS Go. It is unusual to see a premium economy on long-haul narrowbodies.
On the day of writing, SK925 departed Copenhagen bound for Washington Dulles, a Star Alliance hub, with a scheduled arrival time of 15:15 local time. Returning, SK926 will leave at 17:10 and arrive home at 07:10 local time the following morning.
It uses SE-DMR, delivered to SAS in September, according to ch-aviation.com. It replaces the A330-300 on this one day, but the widebody will return tomorrow. In the past week, the A330, with a higher cruise speed than the A321LR, has taken up to eight hours and 52 minutes to complete the 4,074-mile (6,557km) trip to Dulles.
SAS’ A321LR long-haul routes next summer
SAS’ one-off long-haul service is in preparation for the carrier’s proper operation of the type from March 27th, the first day of the northern hemisphere aviation summer season. From that day, the airline will operate three A321LR flights to North America, as detailed below with all times local.
- SK901: Copenhagen-Newark, 18:15-21:05, once-daily
- SK902: Newark-Copenhagen, 23:30-13:20+1 the following day
- SK925: Copenhagen-Washington, 12:00-15:00, once-daily
- SK926, Washington-Copenhagen, 17:15-07:35+1 the next day
- SK927: Copenhagen-Boston, 12:30-14:55, six-weekly
- SK928: Boston-Copenhagen, 17:15-06:45+1 the following day
Delays in A321LR deliveries changed things
Because of delays in the delivery of the LRs, SAS’ plans for the equipment didn’t work out. In April, it scheduled four routes, as shown below. Depending on the route, flights were expected to start from August onwards. However, none operated as the first two aircraft didn’t arrive until September and October, with the schedules subsequently removed.
- Stockholm Arlanda to Chicago O’Hare (with a 9.5-hour block time)
- Stockholm to Newark
- Oslo to Newark
- Copenhagen to Boston
As SAS (currently?) expects only three A321LRs, they’ll be fully occupied deployed between Copenhagen and Boston, Newark, and Dulles. Consequently, the Star Alliance member will continue to operate widebodies from Stockholm to Chicago and Newark, and Oslo to Newark.
One-quarter of US flights
SAS expects to operate 4,444 (!) round-trip services between Europe and the US next summer, according to its schedule submission to OAG. It doesn’t serve Canada. With about one-quarter of movements, the A321LR will be the least used aircraft, followed by the A330-300 (35%) and the A350-900 (39%).
The lion’s share of services
SAS is due to have three-quarters of the non-stop flights from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden to the US, followed by Finnair, Delta, and United. If United is added, Star Alliance has 81% of movements, OAG indicates. Things will change when Norse Atlantic, which took delivery of its first B787 earlier this week, begins flying from Oslo to the US next year.
SAS will operate some 12 routes to the US. With a twice-daily service, one by the A321LR and one by the A350-900, Copenhagen to Newark will be the most served route. It’ll have at least twice as many flights as the rest.
The author flew a US Airways B757 from Dublin to Philadelphia several years ago and will fly a PLAY A321neo from Keflavik to Baltimore in April. Share your long-haul narrowbody experiences in the comments.
