SAN FRANCISCO: Scandinavian Airlines will launch on Monday its first service out of San Francisco International Airport, with nonstop flights to Copenhagen 6 days weekly. For SAS, it's also a West Coast first. The airline currently offers non-stops to Denmark from Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C. “The new route will benefit business and leisure travelers, Scandinavian imports and exports and has been highly sought after by the Scandinavian business community,” Rickard Gustafson, the CEO of SAS Group, said in a statement. Copenhagen is a major hub for SAS, with connections to elsewhere in Scandinavia, Russia, the Baltics, Poland and Germany. The new flights will leave SFO at 5:35 p.m. (except Tuesdays) and land in Copenhagen the next day at 1:15 p.m. Return flights will depart at 12:25 p.m. and arrive in San Francisco at 2:24 p.m. the same day. SAS estimates the flying time at 11 hours, 20 minutes. The Stockholm-based airline uses wide-body Airbus A330 and A340 jets on its trans-Atlantic routes. Monday's inaugural flight will land at 2:45 p.m. at SFO, where it will be greeted with the traditional water cannon salute. BN
