SAS orders up to 40 Airbus widebody jets in $10 billion deal

SAS placed a firm order for 18 Airbus A330-900 aircraft and said the broader deal could lift its widebody fleet to as many as 40 jets, a purchase it valued at more than $10 billion at list prices. The Scandinavian carrier called it the largest investment in its history and its highest-value aircraft order ever. The agreement was signed in Copenhagen by SAS chief executive Anko van der Werff and Airbus commercial aircraft sales chief Benoît de Saint-Exupéry.

The new widebody jets are meant to support long-haul network growth, fleet renewal, better fuel efficiency, lower noise and a stronger passenger experience. They will deepen connectivity between Scandinavia and key international markets through SAS’s Copenhagen hub.

The order lands two years after SAS emerged from U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in August 2024, having restructured more than $2 billion of debt. That restructuring also included $1.2 billion in new investment from a consortium that included the Danish government. SAS spent the years before that trying to adjust to high costs, weak demand and the traffic collapse that followed the pandemic.

The Airbus deal also sits alongside SAS’s rebuild of its shorter-haul fleet. In July 2025, the airline ordered 45 Embraer E195-E2 aircraft with purchase rights for 10 more, a package worth about $4 billion and its largest direct jet order from a manufacturer since 1996. Deliveries on that regional fleet are scheduled to begin in late 2027 and continue for about four years.

The Airbus purchase is part of emissions reduction and modernisation across SAS’s network. The airline has also signed a memorandum of understanding with SkyKraft to explore synthetic aviation fuel production with Skellefteå Kraft and SkyNRG.