Scandinavian Airlines or SAS, previously Scandinavian Airlines System, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
The airline was founded in 1946, when Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik AB, Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S and Det Norske Luftfartselskap AS, formed a partnership to handle the intercontinental air traffic of these three Scandinavian countries.
In 1948 the swedish flag carrier AB Aerotransport joined SAS and the companies coordinated European operations and finally merged to form the SAS Consortium in 1951.