SAS cuts 1,700 jobs in Denmark due to pandemic

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) will reduce its workforce by 1,700 people in Denmark as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company revealed in a stock exchange announcement here on Tuesday.

"COVID-19 has forced SAS to look into a new and unprecedented reality that will not only last for months to come, but also for years to come," said SAS Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rickard Gustafsson in the announcement.

"We have to adjust our costs to the current circumstances. That is why we regrettably have to adapt our workforce to the lower demand for travel," added Gustafsson.

The Danish layoffs come as part of 5,000 redundancies across the international airline that will affect SAS pilots, cabin crew and administrative staff in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Until the newly announced layoffs, SAS had approximately 13,000 employees, including part-time staff in the Scandinavian countries, 4,200 of whom worked in Denmark.

"It's a really, really sad day for all of Denmark. SAS and Copenhagen Airport are growth locomotives in our community," Danish Minister of Employment Peter Hummelgaard told TV2 News on Tuesday.

"We have to do whatever it takes to keep SAS flying. We are dealing with an industry that is so badly hit because almost no one is flying."

In March, Danish Finance Minister Nicolai Wammen announced that his government, together with the Swedish government, would provide a government guarantee of three billion Swedish kroner (300 million U.S. dollars) to SAS.

SAS was founded in 1946 by a merger of the national carriers of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.