Scandinavian Airlines System was formed on August 1, 1946. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden pooled their national airlines so three small countries could afford to fly the Atlantic. The result was a consortium, one shared company owned by all three. SAS soon led the way over the top of the world. In 1954 it opened the first commercial route over the Arctic, Copenhagen to Los Angeles by way of Greenland.
In 1957 it launched the first trans-polar service to Tokyo via Anchorage, cutting hours off trips between Europe and Asia. SAS helped found Star Alliance in 1997 with United, Lufthansa, Air Canada, and Thai. That group lines up schedules and shares perks. High costs and low-fare rivals then wore SAS down. In July 2022 it filed for Chapter 11 protection in the United States.
That US process let it reorganize its debts, and the rebuild finished in 2024. Air France-KLM and the investment firm Castlelake became owners, and the Norwegian and Swedish states stepped away. SAS then made a historic switch, leaving the Star Alliance it had co-founded and joining SkyTeam on September 1, 2024. Copenhagen was confirmed as the main global hub, where most connections happen, with Oslo and Stockholm in support.