Combatants shape up for confrontation in a tough Scandinavian market

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SAS yesterday faced a critical analyst downgrade, as Standard and Poor’s ratings lowered its credit outlook from stable to “negative”. This week’s tragic Madrid crash of an aircraft of wholly owned subsidiary, Spanair, was only part of the reason. Deteriorating trading conditions, a downward trend in premium traffic and volatile fuel prices added to the ugly mix. To cap it off, S&P noted SAS’ own failures, to offset rising costs and delays to cost saving initiatives.