SAS Scandinavian Airlines (SK, Copenhagen Kastrup) will begin the process of leaving Star Alliance and joining Skyteam in spring 2024, as it moves closer to exiting Chapter 11 restructuring, Chief Executive Anko van der Werff told The Points Guy during a Wings Club event.
"Once there's a confirmation hearing [for exiting the restructuring process], it's going to be pretty clear that this will happen. As of that moment, we will likely see Star Alliance [membership] begin to ramp down, and of course, what we will want to do is ramp Skyteam up at the same pace or faster," he said.
He emphasised that the Scandinavian carrier will focus on minimising any disruption to passengers during the process.
The switch is related to Air France-KLM's planned investment in SAS, which will initially give the Franco-Dutch holding a 19.9% stake in the Scandinavian carrier. Air France (AF, Paris CDG) was among the founders of Skyteam in 2000, while KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL, Amsterdam Schiphol) joined four years later. SAS co-founded Star Alliance in 1997.
