SAS inaugural Mumbai flight turned back over Azerbaijan after India regulator withheld approval

Quick summary

SAS flight SK969 departed Copenhagen for Mumbai on June 3, 2026 — the airline’s first India service in 17 years — only to turn back over Azerbaijan after four hours in the air because India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation had not issued a final operating approval. Passengers spent approximately 12 hours in transit before ending up back in Copenhagen with no India arrival, no compensation in hand, and no confirmed restart date.

SAS says approval could come “within the next couple of days,” but the DGCA has not publicly confirmed a timeline. Passengers on the turned-back flight are entitled to EU Regulation 261/2004 compensation — up to €600 per person — and must act now to claim it.

An inaugural flight is supposed to be a celebration. What passengers on SAS flight SK969 got instead was an eight-hour roundtrip to Azerbaijan and back, landing in the same Copenhagen terminal they had left hours earlier.

The flight departed Copenhagen Kastrup on the evening of June 3, 2026, already four hours late. It carried passengers marking what should have been a milestone: SAS returning to India for the first time since 2009, operating Copenhagen–Mumbai with an Airbus A330. Four hours into the flight, with the aircraft overhead Azerbaijan, the crew turned around. The reason was not weather, not a mechanical fault, not a medical emergency. India’s aviation regulator had not issued the final approval required for a foreign carrier to land commercially at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.

SAS confirmed to Indian media that the approval was “not issued as anticipated” despite months of regulatory preparation, and that the airline had expected the paperwork to clear while the aircraft was already airborne. That gamble did not pay off.

For passengers, the arithmetic is brutal: a departure delay of four hours, four hours flying east, four hours flying west, and then the full process of deplaning, rebooking, and finding a hotel in Copenhagen. Anyone with a domestic Indian connection, a wedding, a business meeting, or an onward Asia itinerary booked out of Mumbai lost it entirely.

What the regulatory failure actually means for booked travelers

India requires foreign carriers to obtain specific operating authorization and schedule approval from the DGCA before commencing commercial services — a requirement under India’s bilateral air services agreements. SAS says it completed most of the process, with only a “remaining formal approval” outstanding. That distinction matters less than it sounds: without the final sign-off, the aircraft legally cannot land. The DGCA did not respond to media queries about the missing approval or its timeline.

SAS has indicated the Copenhagen–Mumbai service could restart within days, but that is the airline’s estimate, not a regulatory commitment. Until SK969 completes multiple consecutive rotations without incident, the route should be treated as operationally unstable. Travelers with bookings in the next week are in a genuine grey zone — not cancelled, but not confirmed either. The situation is compounded by Air India’s concurrent cuts to approximately 100 long-haul flights through July 2026, which has already tightened seat availability on Europe–India routes across competing carriers.

Full details of the turnaround, including the Azerbaijan overflight, are confirmed in SAS’ statement to the Times of India.

Why this is bigger than one bad flight

Launching a long-haul inaugural without final regulatory clearance in hand is not a paperwork oversight — it is a go/no-go failure. Airlines operating new international routes typically hold the aircraft on the ground until every approval is confirmed, precisely because the cost of a mid-route turnaround (passenger care, crew hours, fuel, reputational damage) dwarfs the cost of a one-day delay. SAS apparently expected the DGCA sign-off to arrive while SK969 was airborne. It did not.

The forward signal here is specific: watch for a formal DGCA authorization notice for SAS’ Copenhagen–Mumbai service. If it materializes within days as SAS expects, the route stabilizes quickly and new bookings carry lower risk. If it does not, expect rolling cancellations of SK969/SK970 and rising fares on competing Europe–India routes as displaced passengers absorb available seats on Lufthansa, Emirates, and Qatar Airways. Those carriers have long-established DGCA approvals and are the natural fallback — but short-notice availability is already constrained.

The broader pattern is worth noting. SAS is rebuilding its long-haul network under SkyTeam after its 2022 bankruptcy restructuring, and India is a cornerstone of that effort. A stumble on day one — on a route with strong business and VFR demand between Scandinavia and Mumbai — hands competitors a ready-made narrative about reliability. Corporate travel managers booking Scandinavia–India routes will notice.

Steps to take now, in priority order

The DGCA has not confirmed when approval will be issued — SAS’ “couple of days” estimate is unverified — and seat availability on alternative Europe–India routes is tightening by the hour.

• If you were on SK969: Submit an EU261 claim immediately via the SAS EU Passenger Rights page. For a Copenhagen–Mumbai flight (over 3,500 km), the standard compensation is €600 per passenger. Keep all receipts for hotel, meals, and transport — SAS is obligated to cover reasonable overnight costs. Do not accept a simple rebooking without asserting these rights in writing.
• If you hold a CPH–BOM ticket in the next 3–5 days: Contact SAS customer service today and ask explicitly whether your flight is “operational” or “subject to regulatory approval.” Do not wait for a cancellation notice. Price alternative routings on Lufthansa via Frankfurt, Emirates via Dubai, or Qatar Airways via Doha now — before others in the same position do the same.
• If you are planning a new Scandinavia–India trip in the coming weeks: Book fully flexible or refundable SAS fares only, or route via carriers with confirmed DGCA standing until SK969/SK970 has completed several consecutive rotations without disruption. Understanding how new route launch fares work — and when they are worth the risk — is covered in ATC’s guide to new route promotions and launch fares.
• Do not wait passively: Passengers who let SAS rebook them days later without claiming hotel, meals, and EU261 compensation are forfeiting rights the law explicitly grants them. The claim window is open now.

Watch: SAS’ traffic information page at flysas.com/traffic-information for a revised start date or confirmation of consecutive SK969 completions — that is the clearest signal the route has cleared its regulatory hurdle.

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