After their earlier snafu with the launch of Mumbai services, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has finally put a new date on its long-awaited return to India. After its inaugural Copenhagen–Mumbai flight was forced to turn around mid-air in June because the airline lacked the required Indian regulatory approval, SAS now says it has secured all necessary clearances and will restart the route on October 1, 2026.
The new date was communicated by SAS in an operational update on August 14, confirming that the Copenhagen–Mumbai service will operate five times a week with an Airbus A330.
This is a significant development for a route that had an unusually difficult start. I had previously reported on the airline’s aborted return to India. No new date yet on SAS’s Copenhagen–Mumbai Flights, after the aircraft operating the first flight had already spent several hours in the air before turning back to Copenhagen.
SAS will return to Mumbai on October 1
According to the latest update from SAS, the airline has now received all regulatory approvals required to operate to and from Mumbai, clearing the way for the service to begin on October 1.
There is, however, a small distinction between the launch date and the first flight in each direction.
The first Copenhagen–Mumbai flight is scheduled for October 2, while the first Mumbai–Copenhagen flight is scheduled for October 3. SAS says flights from October 1 onwards are already available for sale. The airline will operate the route five times a week using an Airbus A330. The published operating pattern has Copenhagen–Mumbai flights on days 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7, while Mumbai–Copenhagen flights operate on days 1, 3, 5, 6, and 7.
That gives travellers a fairly useful spread across the week, while maintaining the five-weekly frequency SAS had originally planned for the route. SAS itself is now actively promoting Mumbai as a destination, with its website carrying dedicated information for travellers looking to fly between Copenhagen and Mumbai.
A return that has taken an unexpected detour
The October restart is particularly notable because SAS had originally planned to return to India on June 2, 2026, after an absence of roughly 17 years.
The airline had announced the Copenhagen–Mumbai route in 2025 as a year-round service and planned to operate it five times a week with an Airbus A330. The route was intended to reconnect SAS with India while also using Copenhagen as a gateway for onward travel across Scandinavia, Europe and North America.
Then came the rather extraordinary inaugural flight.
SAS flight SK969 departed Copenhagen on June 2, but several hours into the journey, while the aircraft was over Azerbaijan, it turned around and returned to Copenhagen. The problem was not the aircraft or the weather. SAS said that a final regulatory approval required for the service had not been received as expected. 
The episode effectively put the entire launch on hold. SAS subsequently stopped selling the affected flights while it worked with the Indian authorities to complete the remaining approvals. At the time, there was no clear indication of when the route would actually resume. Now, more than three months after the aborted inaugural, the airline has a firm date again.
Mumbai gets another European connection
Copenhagen is the airline’s principal long-haul hub, providing connections across Scandinavia and into its broader European and North American network. SAS has been actively strengthening Copenhagen’s role as its global hub, and the Mumbai route fits neatly into that strategy.
For an Indian traveller, this means that the value of the route is not necessarily limited to Copenhagen itself. The ability to fly nonstop from Mumbai and then connect onward through Copenhagen can make SAS relevant for journeys to Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, as well as further afield.
That is particularly important given SAS’s position in SkyTeam. The airline left Star Alliance in 2024 and joined SkyTeam as part of its broader restructuring, giving Indian travellers another way of accessing the alliance’s network from India.
Why October could work better
There is also a certain logic to SAS restarting the service at the beginning of October rather than attempting another launch in the middle of the summer.
The original June launch was heavily publicised as SAS’s return to India after almost two decades. Instead, the first aircraft never made it to Mumbai. This time, the airline has had several months to work through the regulatory process before putting a new date on the operation.
The August 14 update is therefore materially different from the earlier announcements. SAS is no longer saying the route depends on an outstanding approval. It says the approvals are now in place and that the flights are ready for sale.
SAS’s own booking infrastructure is also currently showing Mumbai as part of its network, including a dedicated Copenhagen–Mumbai booking page. Of course, after what happened in June, travellers will probably be forgiven for wanting to see the first aircraft actually land in Mumbai before declaring the saga completely over.
The A330 returns to India
The aircraft choice remains the Airbus A330, as originally planned. That is significant because SAS has been modernising its long-haul fleet around both the Airbus A330 and the newer A350. The airline has also been expanding its intercontinental network from Copenhagen, announcing additional long-haul routes for the 2026/27 winter season.
For Mumbai passengers, the A330 will provide the familiar SAS long-haul product, including Business, Premium Economy and Economy cabins. The route also gives SAS another opportunity to put its long-haul product in front of Indian travellers at a time when competition for premium traffic between India and Europe is intense.
A second chance for SAS in India
There is a little irony to SAS’s return. The airline spent months preparing for what was supposed to be a fairly straightforward comeback to India. Instead, its inaugural flight became one of the more unusual international route-launch stories of the year, with an aircraft flying thousands of miles before turning around because the necessary regulatory approval had not arrived.
But the important part of the story now is that SAS has not walked away. The airline continued to work through the regulatory process, retained its commitment to the Copenhagen–Mumbai route and has now scheduled a fresh start. The new October 1 date means that SAS’s return to India is no longer simply a planned route on a schedule filing. It has a firm release date.
After the false start in June, SAS will get another chance to make its return to Mumbai count.
Bottomline
SAS is finally set to return to India, with its Copenhagen–Mumbai service now scheduled to begin on October 1, 2026. The airline says it has secured all the required regulatory approvals and will operate the route five times a week with an Airbus A330.
The first Copenhagen–Mumbai flight will operate on October 2, followed by the first Mumbai–Copenhagen flight on October 3. After the extraordinary June episode in which the inaugural flight turned around over Azerbaijan because the final Indian approval had not been received, SAS will be hoping that the second attempt at its India comeback goes rather more according to plan.
And this time, hopefully, the A330 actually makes it to Mumbai. Do you think so?
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