SAS Abandons Planned Wholesale Model Following New Deal with Amadeus

SAS Scandinavian Airlines will not implement its planned wholesale distribution model, its CEO announced, after signing a new deal with Amadeus.

Speaking Wednesday at the Nordic Business Travel Summit in Stockholm, the airline’s CEO, Anko van der Werff, said it no longer would be moving forward with its planned wholesale model.

“We ended up in a good place in our negotiations with Amadeus, so there is no need to implement the wholesale model,” said van der Werff. “We had to stand firm in our negotiations. It’s a big cost component.”

The airline’s new model had previously been poised to go live on March 1 but in January the airline told agencies it would instead launch this September.

As reported by BTN Europe stablemate The Beat, the model it had previously planned would have seen the airline pay agencies in Scandinavian markets an upfront commission for sales but claw back distribution costs it incurs on an agency’s behalf, including GDS charges.

In communications sent to its agency partners Wednesday, SAS said: “The new agreement with Amadeus enables us to adjust our strategy and introduce a new distribution model to provide a greater degree of simplicity.”

It noted that the new model “could include the application of a surcharge depending on the method of accessing SAS content” and that details will be communicated “in the near future.”

The airline said its NDC content will be available via the Amadeus Travel Platform, approved technology partners and direct connections. It also hopes to reach agreements for NDC content distribution with other GDS partners, it added.

SAS expects to implement the new distribution model in September.

One component of its previously announced strategy that will move forward is the withholding of some content from EDIFACT channels. Originally SAS had said this would be its Go Light fares but it has not been confirmed if that remains the case.

Van der Werff said the renegotiation of its deal with distribution partner Amadeus is a key part of restructuring strategy after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last summer.

The CEO said the airline will also now be paying one billion Swedish krona less (around €90 million) per year in leasing fees for “the exact same aircraft.”

He added: “In Chapter 11 you can keep on flying – which is important otherwise the world loses trust in you – and at the same time you can renegotiate your leases, your distribution partners, and others. The Chapter 11 process allows you to reset as much of your business as you can.”

Originally published by BTN Europe.