SAS Scandinavian Airlines (SK, Copenhagen Kastrup) parent company SAS AB has announced it has applied for "company reorganisation" in Sweden, pending approval from the Stockholm District Court. The application concerns only the listed parent and not its subsidiaries or the airline itself, which will continue to operate as usual, it said in a statement dated March 27.

This move comes in the wake of the confirmation of SAS's Chapter 11 restructuring plan by the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on March 19.

The Swedish reorganisation is necessary for the Chapter 11 plan to take effect, the aim being to complete the restructuring process by mid-2024.

SAS initiated Chapter 11 voluntarily to expedite its overarching business transformation strategy, named SAS Forward. The process resulted in a new owner-consortium, including Castlelake, Air France-KLM, Lind Invest, and the Danish state, investing USD1.2 billion in the reorganised airline, split between USD475 million in new unlisted equity and USD725 million in secured convertible debt. An overwhelming majority of creditors (99%) have supported the exit plan.

As part of the Chapter 11 process, SAS renegotiated leases with 15 lessors for 59 aircraft, anticipating annual cost savings of at least SEK1 billion kronor (USD95 million).