SAS widens gateway with plans to use Dubai as a regional hub

Dubai: SAS Scandinavian Airlines, the combined multinational airline of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, is ready to expand in the Middle East and to South Asia by using Dubai as its regional hub, newly appointed manager for the UAE, Albert Henschel, told Gulf News in an interview.

SAS, being a major European carrier and by far the market leader in the Nordic countries, is going to step up frequency on its current Dubai flights because "Dubai is a good and increasing market and the region is becoming more and more important for us", Henschel says.

Currently, SAS flies three times a week from its main European hub in Copenhagen to Dubai, but only in the northern winter months from October to March.

Henschel, who took over the position as General Manager of SAS in the UAE last week, says he is keen to stretch the flight timetable into summer, targeting the "big Nordic business community" in Dubai, and also leisure customers and tourist groups.

"Scandinavian businesses are well represented here", says Henschel, referring to companies such as Ericsson, Volvo, Scania or Ikea.

And there is an "exciting demand from tourists" who want to escape the cold in the north and enjoy the sunny Dubai lifestyle, he adds. In this regard, SAS is cooperating with Dnata's travel booking service.

Furthermore, Henschel is working on code share agreements to link SAS flights landing in Dubai with destinations in India and, later on, in Pakistan, Iran and Jordan.

However, given the present circumstances in the global aviation business, Henschel is aware that there needs to be incentives for travellers to fly with SAS. "We know that we have to be aggressive with our fare structure".

A new "introduction offer" for the round trip Copenhagen-Dubai, currently priced at Dh1,175 plus taxes, will "definitely be below Dh1,000", he says.

Currently, SAS has no major competitor on its route from Dubai to Scandinavia. Emirates or Etihad are not flying to northern Europe, but many Nordic expats use stopover flights of Lufthansa via Frankfurt or KLM via Amsterdam to reach their home countries.

Lufthansa, which flies to 14 destinations in the Middle East, has recently stepped up its capacity on the Dubai route, the German carrier's executive vice president marketing Thierry Antinori said.

According to him, Lufthansa generated more revenue out of the Dubai flights compared to 2008 and reported a six per cent growth in passenger numbers in 2009 "in a difficult environment for the airline industry".

Henschel also is very fond of the opportunities in the UAE. Judging by his first impression, he does not believe that Dubai has been affected very much from the global crisis.

"I arrived here with my eyes wide open," he says. "This is a tremendous place, and I am convinced that this country will continue to grow."