SAS to lease five Boeing 737s

Apr 11, 2011, 15:05 GMT

Stockholm - The SAS Group, operator of the joint carrier Scandinavian Airlines, said Monday it was to lease five Boeing 737 NG (New Generation) airplanes as part of the modernization of its fleet.

The new planes, to be leased from aircraft leasing and financing firm GECAS, are to replace the group's MD80 and Boeing 737 Classic models at its regional hubs in Stockholm, Sweden, and Oslo, Norway.

SAS said it had also signed a memorandum of understanding to lease 12 more Boeing 737 700's from GECAS.

SAS currently operates 87 short haul jets from Oslo and Stockholm, of which 67 are Boeing 737NGs, 11 are Boeing 737 Classic and 9 are MD80s.

In 2012, SAS planned to begin to phase out the MD80 planes from its main hub at Copenhagen, Denmark, and replace them with Airbus A320s.

That replacement was due to be completed by 2016.

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