No airline manufacturer had such a "fan club" as Douglas had it in Europe. Alitalia, Iberia, Finnair, KLM, Swissair, UTA and finally SAS - Scandinavian Airlines System bought almost everything as long as it 
came from Long Beach. The first widebody was the 747, but SAS ordered also the DC-10-30 together with the other three KSSU-members on June 7th 1969. They recieved the first aircraft as late as 1974 (Two years after KLM and Swissair, also KSSU-members, recieved their first DC-10). This aircraft, LN-RKA, served the polar route to Tokyo
and as soon as the second DC-10 was delivered, the DC-10 replaced its older sister DC-8 on the routes to Bangkok and to the United States. The fleet of five aircraft was delivered by 1976, but further leases and the acquisition of some used aircraft brought the fleet to 12 DC-10. These additional DC-10s were needed to replace the jumbo jets which proved to be too large for SAS routes. As SAS long-range routes were very thin, SAS decided to replace the DC-10 with Boeing 767-200ER/-300ER which fitted better into SAS network and the last DC-10 left the fleet by 1991. Now, the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden operates a fleet of MD-81/82/83/87, 737-600/700/800, A321 and Airbus A330/340.Photos:
Right: SAS DC-10 in the old colour scheme - BY DOUG BULL
Left: 46870/ 217 (OY-KDA) - FROM BJÖRN FLEISCHMANN COLLECTION
