SAS is introducing a new fares model allowing travellers to buy one-way tickets.
Under the new arrangements the airline said: “Tickets will be sold as one-way tickets and can be combined without restriction to form return tickets.”
It said that “complicated rules” requiring to stay overnight on Saturday or Sunday would be scrapped.
It is also simplifying its online booking system to help travellers find and book cheap fares more easily.
The new arrangements comes into force on September 1 for all European destinations except those in Germany which will be included in the scheme next January.
Jorgen Lindegaard, SAS's president and ceo, said: “This is a further step in our commercial activities and we are following up on the success of one-way fares in Norway and Sweden by introducing the same concept on all European routes.”
* SAS reported a second quarter pre-tax profit of 63m (SEK590m) compared with 4.7m (SEK44m) for the same period last year. Operating revenue for the period rose from 1.6bn (SEK15bn) to 1.7bn (SEK16bn)
But for the first half of 2005, the carrier said it had suffered a net loss of 50.6m (SEK472m) which however was a major improvement on the figure for the first half of 2004 when the airline lost 131.8m (SEK1.23bn).
The airline said, on the back of the improved second quarter figures, that without any important changes in the business environment or further significant increases in fuel prices, it should have “positive earnings for 2005.”
Mr Lindegaard said the second quarter earnings were “positive and inline with the profitability plan for the SAS Group.”