Today at a special event in Copenhagen, Scandinavian Airlines unveiled a brand new color scheme for its airplanes. The new livery will make its debut on the airline’s first Airbus A350, a quiet and fuel-efficient plane that will begin to form the backbone of their long-haul fleet, with its first flight in January 2020. Now, after a few months of rumors and speculation, we finally get to see the brand new look for the Scandinavian flag carrier.
The new SAS livery as seen on the soon-to-be-delivered A350.
The scheme is certainly an evolution rather than something completely different. It is modern, simple and elegant – and works very nicely on the A350 pictured. Some people may miss the old splash of color that the orange/red engines gave the SAS color scheme, but 21 years later, most agree it was time for a change. SAS has a special section on its website devoted to the new livery here.
The tail section of the SAS A350 and new livery.
SAS is in a unique position because its home markets of Sweden, Denmark and Norway have been the epicenter of an anti-flying environmental movement. In Sweden the phenomenon even has a name: flygskam, or “flight shame.” Passenger numbers have taken a hit as more people have begun to question whether all these cheap and easy flights and constant air travel really are a good thing. A significant number have begun taking the train instead, even for longer journeys into Europe, and others are cutting out all but the most essential travel. One study (in Swedish) even put the number of people in Sweden who opted not to fly for environmental reasons last year at a surprisingly high 23% of the country, an increase of 6% over the previous year. A handful of prominent personalities in Sweden have cut out flying altogether. Bjorn Ferry, a television commentator who needs to travel to skiing competitions for his work, has decided he will be part of the #stayontheground movement and only take trains.
Engine detail of the new SAS livery.
SAS has been taking a number of steps to address this, from making carbon-offsetting automatic for all its frequent flyer program members, to reducing packaging onboard, working on biofuels initiatives, and sitting down with Airbus to begin developing the hybrid-electric aircraft of the future. This latest livery change is a part of what SAS sees as a reinvention, to show people that they are truly serious about addressing the environmental issues around flying.
Another look at the new SAS livery with bold titles on the underside of the fuselage.
SAS, naturally, wants people to continue to fly – and like any airline, they want to grow their network and make money doing it. They also realize that an airline that doesn’t address sustainability issues in this day and age is not going to make it very far. Not only is it high among the priorities of passengers in its home territory, the environmental cost of flying is a growing concern worldwide. So their efforts have to be real. At the same time, they want to remind people why flying is still important.
“We should never forget the true value of aviation. An open society is dependent on people being able to meet, be inspired by each other,” said Rickard Gustafson, President and CEO of SAS. “If we do this right and we can articulate a clear and trustworthy story about sustainability, it will strengthen our brand and out competitiveness.”
The A350 heads off into the sunset.
It will take more than a new color scheme and a handful of eco-friendly initiatives to really tackle the problem of aviation’s carbon footprint, but the message the airline is sending is that they know this, and what we’re seeing now is just the beginning. SAS is leading the way in trying to show that airlines can fly responsibly, and take real steps to help tackle climate change, and that can only be a good thing. Meanwhile, their new A350s are going to look very fetching on the runways of Scandinavia.
