SAS strike due to enter fifth day

The strike is over pay and conditions

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has cancelled most of its Tuesday flights to and from Sweden as a strike by cabin crew is due to enter a fifth day.

SAS Sweden spokeswoman Ulrika Fager said 286 flights were cancelled for Tuesday, affecting 20,000 passengers.

As talks continue between the airline and the Swedish Salaried Employees' Union, a total of 1,200 flights have now been grounded since Friday.

The Swedish staff have walked out in a dispute over pay and conditions.

'Continuing negotiations'

At present, all direct flights to and from Sweden and the US and Asia will continue to operate as scheduled, in addition to direct flights to London City.

Services operated by the Danish and Norwegian sections of SAS also remain unaffected.

The 800 striking Swedish cabin crew staff and their union have so far failed to reach agreement with the company over the exact terms of SAS's offer of a 10.2% pay rise over three years.

"Negotiations are now continuing in cooperation with mediators, and we are making every effort to reach an agreement," said SAS Sweden president Anders Ehrling.

SAS Sweden serves 37 destinations in Europe and the parent group SAS is the fourth largest airline in Europe in numbers of passengers.