Today, we’re flying a historic route, the first transpolar commercial route in the world, operated by Scandinavian Airlines. Inaugurated in 1954 with Douglas DC-6Bs, Scandinavian initially flew between Copenhagen and Los Angeles with stopovers in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, and Winnipeg, Canada. Over the 70+ years Scandinavian (styled as SAS) has flown this route, it has used the DC-6B, DC-7B, DC-8-33/55/62 (the latter two of which had sufficient range for non-stop CPH-LAX flights), DC-10-30, 747-200B, 767-200/300ER, A340-300, and A330-300. Currently, the principal type used is Airbus’s A350-900
Server: Solo
Airline: Scandinavian Airlines
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900
Origin: Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup, Kastrup, Denmark (CPH)
Destination: Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California (LAX)
Flight Number: SK931
Route: EKPH-KLAX
Seat: 10H (SAS Business)
Time En Route: 10 Hours 37 Minutes
Boarding in Copenhagen in the early afternoon
Pushing back from our gate. Scandinavian’s A350s have 40 business class seats, 32 forward of the second exit doors and 8 in a smaller, more private section between the exits and economy. We’re in the last row of that much smaller area.
Taxiing to Runway 12
Climbing away from Kastrup
In cruise over northern Iceland
Initial descent over Lake Mead, with Las Vegas visible far off in the distance
Final descent over the Gateway Cities south of Downtown Los Angeles
Landing on 25R at a LAX shrouded by the Marine Layer
Pulling into the alleyway between the Midfield Concourse and the main International Terminal
Our aircraft, viewed from across the ramp at the main Tom Bradley International Terminal