SAS chief executive: does not want to see new state rescue packages

- Airlines must be able to stand on their own two feet. The market exists for a reason, he says in “Alex meets”.

During the pandemic, large parts of the world's air traffic came to a standstill and many airlines fought for survival. SAS was then rescued with support totalling SEK 9.5 billion from the Swedish and Danish states.

But according to Anko van der Werff, state rescue operations were not the right way forward.

- Many companies that asked for support could have resolved the situation in other ways. States should to a greater extent have said: “You will have to solve it via the market”, he says.

The SAS chief executive, who took office after the pandemic, instead points to restructuring as a more sustainable way through the crisis.

- We have shown that it is possible to get through a difficult situation via restructuring. It is a model that works, he says.

He also believes that a tougher market would probably have accelerated consolidation in the European aviation industry.

Today, SAS is part of the Air France-KLM Group after the restructuring, and Anko van der Werff hopes for more mergers in Europe in the future.

- I strongly believe in consolidation within aviation. Europe would be stronger if we stopped thinking so nationally and instead more European, he says.