Stockholm to Toronto is effectively a new route, although technically it was served by SAS about 30 years ago. Copenhagen, meanwhile, will now have two operators, with SAS joining fellow Star Alliance member Air Canada.

It is unlikely that the Canadian flag carrier will reduce flights or capacity, with the arrival of SAS meaning a record number of weekly flights between Copenhagen and Toronto – just in time for the peak summer.

SAS A350
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

SAS is coming to Toronto

The two new routes will begin in June, although the launch dates aren't yet known and the routes aren't yet bookable. They'll both be operated by three-class A321LRs, with the type having a significantly lower sector cost versus widebodies in exchange for a slightly higher seat-mile cost.

The LRs have 157 seats, with 22 fully flat seats in SAS Business, 12 seats in SAS Plus (premium economy), and 123 in SAS Go. Toronto will be served once-daily, but with sub-daily service from the Scandinavian airports, as follows:

  • Copenhagen to Toronto: three-weekly
  • Stockholm to Toronto: four-weekly

The announcement comes days after SAS inaugurated the A321LR between Copenhagen and Washington Dulles. According to Flightradar24, the initial outbound flight had a flight time exceeding ten hours, although it'll typically be about nine. In mileage terms, neither Stockholm nor Copenhagen to Toronto will be as long as Washington, although they'll both be longer than other coming A321LR routes by SAS.

A321LR-Engine-SAS-Scandinavian-Airlines-281A4665
Photo: SAS.

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A key unserved market

According to booking data, Toronto was Stockholm's fourth-largest unserved market in North America in 2019. Round-trip point-to-point (P2P) traffic totaled over 35,000, beaten only by San Francisco, Boston, and Washington Dulles – the last two potential future A321LR routes. In addition to P2P demand, Toronto will be good for transit passengers over Toronto across North America and over Stockholm across wider Europe.

Copenhagen, in contrast, will complement Air Canada's once-daily operating utilizing 297-seat A330-300s. When combined, the two carriers will have a 10-weekly service – the highest ever.

SAS to North America
This shows how SAS's North America departures/arrivals are scheduled at Copenhagen, where departures are green and arrivals blue. Unsurprisingly, SAS has confirmed that Toronto will leave about midday, overwhelmingly the core departure bank. Due to their partnership, Air Canada's services also leave about midday. Image: OAG.

Now five SAS A321LR routes

This summer, the two coming Toronto services bring the carrier's A321LR routes to five. It equates to a four-daily service, requiring four aircraft (plus any spare). As SAS only has three aircraft (two delivered and one coming soon), it'll need at least one more unless it plans to free up capacity by removing the type from one of the following routes. I think that's unlikely.

  1. Copenhagen to Dulles: once-daily
  2. Copenhagen to Newark: once-daily
  3. Copenhagen to Boston: six-weekly
  4. Stockholm to Toronto: four-weekly
  5. Copenhagen to Toronto: three-weekly
SAS A321LR network summer 2022
The A321LR's network this summer, assuming no further changes. Image: OAG.

SAS will receive its third A321LR soon

SAS currently has two A321LRs, registered SE-DMO (delivered in October 2020) and SE-DMR (September 2021). A third example (SE-DMS) will be coming soon. They're relatively premium-heavy with only 157 seats, precisely what is needed for long-haul narrowbody service to offset higher seat-mile costs.

Given the choice of Air Canada or SAS to Copenhagen, which would you use and why? Let us know in the comments.