Starting in June 2023, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) will add the Copenhagen-Tokyo direct flight route to its list of destinations, making it the 13th European airline to offer regular flights to the city this summer. To meet the high demand during the Easter period, SAS will operate a few flights before the full relaunch.
Due to past disruptions, SAS’ long-haul network is still in the process of recovering. The resumption of flights to Tokyo is a significant milestone for the airline as it strives to regain financial stability while operating under bankruptcy protection.
The Tokyo relaunch is part of SAS’ packed summer schedule, as it aims to achieve profitability by 2024.
Although the route is being relaunched, there are some alterations to the pre-pandemic norms. Instead of flying from Copenhagen to Narita, SAS will now fly to Haneda, which is viewed by many travelers as an upgrade due to its closer proximity to downtown Tokyo and extensive metro connectivity. Furthermore, Star Alliance partner airlines such as Air China, All Nippon Airways, and Asiana operate from Haneda.
Despite the advantages of Haneda, SAS will only operate three weekly flights, rather than the originally anticipated seven. Additionally, the flight time will be extended to almost 14 hours due to airspace restrictions over Russia.
Copenhagen-Tokyo direct flights
Departures and arrivals in Copenhagen and Tokyo:
The Airbus A350 flights will take off from Copenhagen at 11:20 am on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, and reach their destination Tokyo Airport at 7:55 am the next day. The return flight departs from Narita at 11:45 am and arrives back in Copenhagen at 6:40 pm.
Normally, SAS utilizes its Airbus A350 with a seating capacity of 300 passengers, consisting of 40 business class seats arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration and 32 premium economy seats arranged in a 2-3-2 configuration.
The remaining 228 seats are allocated to economy class passengers, arranged in a 3-3-3 configuration. Despite having slimline seats, The Points Guy has rated them as “above average” for economy class.
Erik Westman, the Executive Vice President of Network and Revenue Management at SAS, stated that the airline is witnessing a growing demand for travel.
Earlier, SAS had revealed 20 new routes for the summer season connecting Scandinavia and Europe. Recently, it announced an additional 10 routes and has also increased the frequency of flights on popular leisure routes such as Alicante, Florence, Malaga, Mallorca, Naples, Split, and Sicily.
