Denmark's Sunclass Airlines to lay off 375 employees

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SAS signs record $408mn contract with Nordic tour operator

SAS Scandinavian Airlines (SK, Copenhagen Kastrup) and Apollo, one of the biggest tour operators in the Nordic region, have extended their longstanding charter flight collaboration for a further three summer and winter seasons until 2024, with an option for an additional extension to 2026.

This latest deal represents the Scandinavian carrier’s largest-ever contract with a charter operator, worth around SEK3.4 billion kronor (USD408 million) over the first three years, SAS said in a statement on January 28.

In a normal summer, REWE Group-owned Apollo typically carries about 650,000 people mainly to southern European destinations. Under this contract, SAS will connect Apollo customers from 24 locations across Sweden, Denmark, and Norway to 51 destinations around Europe. The airline and tour operator remain each other’s main partner for charter flights.

However, in addition, Apollo will use its own airline, Novair (N9, Stockholm Arlanda), and there may also be flights operated by Danish carriers Great Dane Airlines (DW, Aalborg) and Sunclass Airlines (DK, Copenhagen Kastrup) as well as Jettime (JTD,...

Denmark's Sunclass Airlines resumes operations

After being grounded for four months by the COVID-19 pandemic, Sunclass Airlines (DK, Copenhagen Kastrup), formerly known as Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia, restarted operations on July 25, 2020.

The Danish leisure specialist, which was bought by a consortium consisting of Norwegian billionaire Petter Stordalen, Stockholm-based Altor, and London's TDR Capital after the collapse of Thomas Cook Group last year, currently flies to Palma de Mallorca and destinations in Greece from Gothenburg Landvetter, Stockholm Arlanda, Helsinki Vantaa, Billund, Copenhagen Kastrup, and Malmö. Flightradar24 ADS-B data indicates that the airline reactivated six out of its eight A321-200s, although they operate with a very low utilisation rate for the time being.

Sunclass Airlines' fleet of widebody aircraft, consisting of one A330-200 and three A330-300s, remains parked for now.

The carrier suspended all operations on March 20 and has only operated very few repatriation charters since then. Its restart was complicated by various levels of COVID-related restrictions in its Scandinavian base countries, in particular by the opposing...

Europe airline suspensions, country closures 06-12APR