Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) was set to return to India this week after a 17-year absence, but what was supposed to be a celebratory inaugural flight between Copenhagen and Mumbai ended in disappointment when the aircraft was forced to turn back to Denmark before reaching India.
SAS operates inaugural flight to Mumbai without regulatory approval
Flight SK969, operating the Copenhagen (CPH) – Mumbai (BOM) route on June 2/3, 2026, departed Copenhagen as scheduled and was well on its way to India when it unexpectedly reversed course over Azerbaijan and returned to its origin airport. LN-RKM, Operating the Inaugural, Took Off with a Delay of ~4.5 Hours.
The incident is particularly significant because the flight marked SAS’s long-awaited return to India, a market the airline exited in 2009 amid industry-wide restructuring and changing long-haul economics. The Mumbai route was intended to be one of the centrepieces of SAS’s expanding long-haul network and its strategy to strengthen Copenhagen as a gateway between Northern Europe, North America and Asia. The market is so important for SAS that they are also offering a status match in India.
Missing Regulatory Approval Forces Return
According to SAS, the aircraft did not return due to a technical issue, weather disruption, or operational emergency. Instead, the airline stated that a final regulatory approval required for the service had not been received as anticipated before the flight entered the final stages of its journey.
By the time it became clear that the approval would not arrive in time, the Airbus A330 operating the flight had already reached Azerbaijani airspace. Rather than continue towards Mumbai without the required authorisation, SAS elected to return the aircraft to Copenhagen.
While airlines occasionally delay launches pending approvals, it is relatively unusual for an inaugural intercontinental flight to depart only to be forced to return several hours later because a final clearance was still outstanding. This almost reminded me of Air India sending the wrong aircraft to Canada earlier this year.
A Route More Than A Decade In The Making
The Copenhagen–Mumbai route represents SAS’s first India service since withdrawing from the country approximately 17 years ago. The carrier announced the route in 2025 as part of its largest network expansion in years.
SAS planned to operate the service five times weekly using Airbus A330 aircraft, offering nonstop connectivity between Scandinavia and India’s financial capital. Flight timings were specifically designed to facilitate connections beyond Copenhagen to destinations across Scandinavia, Europe and North America, including major gateways such as New York, Boston and Toronto.
When announcing the route, SAS Chief Executive Officer Anko van der Werff described India as a strategically important market, citing both growing travel demand and the strengthening economic relationship between India and the Nordic region.
The Mumbai service was also notable because SAS chose Mumbai over Delhi for its return to India, reflecting the city’s growing importance as a commercial and premium travel market. The route had generated considerable interest among both business travellers and the Indian diaspora in Northern Europe.
What Happens Next?
At the time of writing, SAS continues to market and sell the Mumbai route, indicating that the airline expects the regulatory issues to be resolved rather than representing a long-term obstacle to the service.
The carrier had originally announced that the route would commence on June 2, 2026, subject to final governmental approvals. That caveat, included in the launch announcement nearly a year ago, now appears particularly relevant given the circumstances surrounding the inaugural flight.
Passengers booked on the initial services will now be watching closely to see whether subsequent flights operate normally or whether additional schedule adjustments become necessary while the remaining regulatory formalities are completed.
For SAS, the timing is unfortunate. The airline had invested heavily in promoting its return to India, positioning Mumbai as a key component of its intercontinental growth strategy. Instead of celebrating a successful inaugural flight to Mumbai, the airline finds itself facing an unusual operational setback on day one.
Why Does This Matter?
The failed inaugural flight highlights how international route launches often involve layers of approvals from multiple authorities, even after tickets have gone on sale and aircraft have been scheduled. That is why there is a “Subject To Government Approval” hiding there in the promotional materials.
For Indian travellers, the route remains strategically important. It provides a new nonstop option between Mumbai and Scandinavia while opening one-stop access to SAS’s wider network across Northern Europe and North America.
Assuming the outstanding approval issues are resolved quickly, the episode is likely to be remembered as an embarrassing footnote rather than a serious threat to the route’s future. However, it is certainly not the way SAS would have wanted to mark its return to India after nearly two decades away.
Bottomline
SAS’s much-anticipated return to India suffered an unexpected setback when inaugural flight SK969 from Copenhagen to Mumbai turned back over Azerbaijan and returned to Denmark. The airline says the aircraft was forced to return because a final regulatory approval had not been received as expected. The incident delayed what should have been a landmark moment for SAS’s India comeback and one of the most notable new international routes launched in 2026.
What do you make of the momentary lapse in missing paperwork?
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