Scandinavian airlines system, sas

Scandinavian Airlines System, SAS, was founded in 1946, based on the visionary idea that the three Scandinavian countries, Denmark, Norway and Sweden were too small independently to develop a major international airline but if they joined forces they would be able to challenge international competition.

The ownership, which dates from 1946, is that the three governments together own 50% and private shareholders own the other 50%. SAS is, via its mother companies, listed on the three Scandinavian stock exchanges. The first SAS flight took off in September 1946. A DC-4 made its maiden flight from Stockholm to New York in 24 hours with two intermediate landings. Since then, SAS operations have expanded and today the route network covers 105 destinations in 34 countries. During 1995, SAS trans­ported 19 million passengers and cargo. SAS now ranks number 12 in size among the world's airlines.

Over the years SAS has had the ambition to be one of the pioneers in aviation. In the fifties, SAS developed a navigation system enabling safe flying over the polar region. Thus, the flying time between Scandinavia and western USA and Japan was substantially shortened. In the sixties, SAS was among the first airlines to introduce jet services and in the eighties, SAS was famous for developing the service management concept.

Today SAS is operating in a deregulated environment in full competition with national and international airlines. Intra-Scan­dinavian traffic is the core of SAS operations and the capital triangle, Copenhagen — Oslo — Stockholm represents the heart of the traffic system. Each of the three capitals is served with as many domestic and international non-stop routes as the market can support, and the three capitals are linked together with a very high-frequency service. Copenhagen is the joint Scandinavian hub, primarily for inter-continental operations. SAS has recently formed strategic alliances with Lufthansa, United Airlines and Thai Airways International. The services of the participating airlines will, over time, be more and more integrated thus offering customers a complete, competitive global network.

SAS has a fleet of 150 aircraft, most of them MD-80s and B767s delivered in the eighties. In 1995, SAS ordered 41 B737S and 8 MD-90s to replace older aircraft. SAS's head office is located in Stockholm and the 22,000 employees manage not only the airline but also substantial hotel operation.

SAS International Hotels, in co-operation with Radisson Hotels International, market their services under the brand name Radisson SAS.

TEST 1

Write word in each circle. Choose from the following. (See example):

TEST 2

Business word pairs

Match the words on the left (1-18) with their equivalents on the right (a-r):

1. headquarters	a} chief
2. executive	b) plan
3. human resources	c) products
4. customer	d) sales revenue
5. plant	e) position
6. head	f) purchaser
7. firm	g) correspondence
8. manufacturing	h) objective
9. Chief Executive Officer	i) factory
10. turnover	j) deliver
11. pay	k) manager
12. buyer	1) production
13. post	m) head office
14. supply	n} Managing Director
15. target	o) company
16. letters	p) salary
17. goods	q) client
18. scheme	r) personnel

TEST 3