SAS Business Class review on the A350 from Copenhagen to Los Angeles

This is our review of Scandinavian Airlines long haul business class.

You may not know it, but Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) was the first airline to fly over the North Pole on a commercial flight, when it launched flights from Copenhagen to Los Angeles. The flight, on the 15th November 1954, not only reduced flying time but also lowered fuel consumption.

Back then, the Douglas DC-6B had to make two fuelling stops en-route – Kangerlussuaq (Greenland) and Winnipeg (Canada) – with a total flight time of 28 hours.

Fortunately, modern aircraft can do it faster and more direct than in years gone by. Virtually all airlines now fly the polar route between Europe and the US as it offers the most direct path. Depending on where you are flying you don’t quite get as far North as the North Pole, but you do creep up into Greenland.

Polar routings are also used for flights to (or more commonly from) Asia. For example, my recent flight with Finnair from Japan took me over the North Pole and I was issued a certificate to prove it!

One of the unique aspects of taking the polar route, at least in winter, is that even though you are on a ‘day flight’, departing and arriving in daylight hours (and on the same day), you experience a sunset and sunrise as you enter the polar night. This is thanks to the reduced daylight hours in the Arctic winter. In summer, of course, this doesn’t happen!

To celebrate 70 years since the first commercial polar flight, SAS invited us to try it on the same route as all those years ago. HfP paid for all of its other expenses.

Earn and redeem Virgin Points on SAS

Don’t forget that SAS has been undergoing a transformation since exiting Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

With new owners including Air France KLM, it has left Star Alliance and joined SkyTeam, so you can earn and redeem Virgin Points on flights. Anyone with Virgin Points should be keeping a much closer eye on SAS now.

The state of Denmark also owns just over 25% of the airline, so it is doubling down on its Copenhagen hub to turn it into “a key international gateway to and from Scandinavia and Northern Europe.” It will continue flying from Stockholm but on a secondary basis.

SAS check in and lounge

As I’m based in London my journey started at Heathrow airport, where SAS operates from Terminal 2.

At the moment, SAS does not operate a proper shorthaul business class, opting instead to offer something called ‘SAS Plus’, which is also the name for its long haul premium economy cabin.

This is, effectively, short haul premium economy. I got a free middle seat but this is not guaranteed. Food was a free cold boxed meal, but that’s pretty much it. This will all change in 2025 when SAS reintroduces ‘proper’ business class with guaranteed free middle seats and improved food on short haul routes.

For now, however, this situation continues. At Heathrow, this means there are only dedicated desks for economy and SAS Plus. It was a bit messy and the check-in staff didn’t know how to add my Global Entry number to my booking, presumably because they mostly deal with short haul flights.

Once I had my boarding pass I headed to the so-called ‘fast track’ security queue at Terminal 2. This is always much less fast than it ought to be because they keep shuffling in passengers from the standard queues ….

SAS uses the Plaza Premium lounge at Heathrow T2 which we have reviewed here. It’s been very busy recently due to the ongoing lounge refurbishments in the terminal, with airlines sending their passengers here instead, but hopefully the lounges will all be completed soon. The new No1 Lounge should also alleviate capacity issues.

I won’t go into detail about my SAS Plus experience to Copenhagen – suffice to say that it’s a necessary step to reintroduce a proper short haul business class product, especially for connecting passengers.

In Copenhagen I had a long layover and got to try out the flagship SAS Lounge which I covered here.

Onboard SAS’ A350

SAS has a fleet of A350s and A330s for its widebody fleet, as well as some A321LRs which also ply some of the long haul routes. The A350-900, being the newest widebody, is obviously the flagship and is what SAS operate on their longest flights, including to LA.

It can seat 300 people in a three-class configuration, with 40 business class seats – 32 in a large forward cabin and eight in a very private two-row rear cabin. There is no First Class.

SAS has gone with the Thompson Vantage XL seat, which you can also spot on Delta and Virgin Atlantic (as its A330neo Upper Class seat). This is a very comfortable seat, although in this iteration it is without a door as it is coming up to five years since it was introduced.

Seats are arranged in a staggered 1-2-1 layout. That means seats alternate between being next to the aisle and next to the window. If, like me, you prefer the privacy and protection from a ‘true’ window seat (with your side console between you and the aisle) then I recommend selecting an even-numbered row.

Here’s an odd-numbered row:

And here’s the more private even-numbered one:

The one compromise with the seat is the relatively small footwell. I think this has improved in more recent Thompson Vantage XL models.

If you have big feet or simply want more space, then I suggest you book one of the bulkhead rows – 1 and 9 – which have significantly larger foot wells:

Otherwise the seat is very comfortable. There is some open shelving for your headphones, amenity kit and other bits you might want during the flight:

You don’t get any other storage but that was enough for what I had. Not pictured is the bottle of water that is provided. The colour of the cabin – the ochre shelf interior and dark grey seat – felt very Lufthansa to me!

Also in a very accessible spot was a universal mains socket and USB-A port. A remote for the IFE was also available although as the seat is close to the screen I didn’t use it.

Opposite there are, bizarrely, two literature pockets: the upper one empty, presumably for storage although I’m not sure how useful such a fold out storage unit is.

One think I would note is that the seat reclines quite close to the screen, making it a bit of a hassle to get out of your seat without un-reclining it.

The tray table slides out from the side console and offers a single or double leaf option. It was adjustable and contoured:

The pop-out mechanism was easy and intuitive, which can’t be said for all business class tables!

Here is the seat in bed mode. The armrest can also be retracted although it doesn’t quite go flush to the seat.

All things said and done, though, this is a very comfortable seat and cabin.

In-flight entertainment and wifi on SAS

An 18.5″ HD touchscreen is built into the seat, but it feels bigger because you are (relatively speaking) quite close to it. It was very responsive and I liked the SAS in-flight entertainment system.

The catalogue was stocked with some classics as well as newer releases:

On the A350 you can also choose to watch the in-flight cameras which I always like to do or have on in the background when I’m not watching anything.

The supplied headphones were good and I didn’t end up digging my own out. You still need a wired connection – there’s no Bluetooth connectivity.

Everyone in business gets a free wifi pass, which was good enough for general work and social media, although I think you’d struggle with video.

Anyone who isn’t eligible for free wifi can buy a full-flight pass for €16 which isn’t too bad for an 11 hour flight, although many airlines are beginning to move to free wifi for all passengers.

Amenity kit and bedding

SAS works in collaboration with Duxiana for its business class amenity kits. These are provided in different forms including a shoe bag, laundry bag or travel pouch. I got the shoe bag, I believe:

Inside was a Dux eye mask, ear plugs, bamboo toothbrush, travel socks and lip balm and face cream from Verso.

Also at my seat was a good-sized white pillow and duvet, although sadly no mattress pad or protector for sleeping on.

Food and service onboard Scandinavian Airlines

What most impressed me about my trip, however, was not the cabins but the food and service on board. It started with a pre-departure drink, with a choice of water, juice or champagne:

Crew handed out the menu, which had a gradient cover that looked like a very light sunset or sunrise. This was followed, after take-off, with a hot towel and another drinks service, this time with roasted cashews. I went for the special Polar cocktail which is mixed at your seat:

I followed this up with a glass of champagne with dinner. SAS serve Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve NV.

Then it was time for dinner. Rather than take your order in advance, crew bring a trolley down the aisle with a spread of all the available dishes – four of them in total. If you’re not sure you can take a look before you decide.

It also meant SAS could deliver a premium meal service without having to resort to bringing everything out on trays. It may not be a big thing but it just feels that tiny bit classier!

To start, there was a choice of:

• mixed salad with pickled pumpkin and nigella seed
• snow crab and salmon tartare with black pepper mayonnaise, root vegetables in ponzu and mustard cucumbers
• lightly smoked duck with Waldorf-inspired celeriac remoulade, grapes and celery

The crew let me try both the snow crab and smoked duck. Initially, I thought I would like the snow crab more, but in the end the smoked duck was the winner for me. The crab wasn’t as crabby as I wanted it to be!

For the main courses there were four choices:

• veal chuck roast with creamy blue cheese, dauphinoise pottaoes, celeriac with caraway, black cabbage, lingonberries and toasted walnuts
• chicken breast with mushroom fricassee, potato and celeriac puree, buttered carrots, poached leeks and leek oil
• vegetarian red Thai curry with jasmine rice, brocollini, baked pumpkin and grapes

The fourth option, which was not in the printed menu, was baked salmon.

Here is the veal: the creamy blue cheese was delicious. I also liked the very Scandi cutlery!

Crew ask if you would like any garnishes, which can include salad, pumpkin seeds, baked cheese etc.

For dessert it’s again a trolley service and you can pick and choose from:

• cheeseboard with Havgus and Krondild cheeses from Arla UNIKA with green tomato marmalade from Hedhe-Escalante, Sweden
• lemon and black current tartlet with black currant cream cheese
• Hansens Is organic ice cream
• seasonal fresh cut fruit

I went for the ice lolly and black current tartlet. The ice lolly was fab: you think it’s a standard choc ice but it has a spine of fruit preserve down the middle!

Coffee and tea followed.

If you are hungry mid-flight then crew came round with sandwiches, or you could help yourself at the self-service bar in the galley which featured sandwiches and snacks, such as gummy bears:

A second meal service occurred around two hours or ninety minutes before landing. This was a single tray service with no choice:

• traditional Scandinavian open-faced sandwich with sun-dried tomato tartare, grilled artichokes, fried olives and chive mayonnaise on Danish rye bread
• fresh cut fruit and handmade pralines from Hedhe Escalante

Conclusion

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by my SAS experience. It’s a night-and-day contrast to the poor food currently served by fellow Nordic airline Finnair, and the trolley service is a nice retro touch.

Things such as the hand-shaken cocktail make a difference and show SAS is willing to do things properly. Although it’s now five years old, the business class cabin is still in good nick and offers a competitive seat.

Once the short haul business class connections are sorted, hopefully sometime next year, you shouldn’t need much persuading to fly SAS from the UK.

In the next part of this series, due later this week, I will try out the SAS Plus premium economy cabin (review here).

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