Editing Scandinavian Airlines (section)

=== Founding ===
[[File:Douglas DC-3, SE-CFP.jpg|thumb|A privately preserved [[Douglas DC-3]] wearing SAS' late 1940s-style markings]]
The airline was founded on 1 August 1946, when [[Swedish Intercontinental Airlines|Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik]] AB (an airline owned by the Swedish [[Wallenberg family]]), [[Danish Air Lines|Det Danske Luftfartselskab]] A/S, and [[Norwegian Air Lines|Det Norske Luftfartselskap]] AS (the [[flag carrier]]s of Denmark and Norway) formed a partnership to handle the [[Long-haul#Long-haul flights|combined air traffic]] of the three [[Scandinavia]]n countries.<ref>{{cite web| title=Historie| publisher=SAS| url=http://www.sas.dk/da/Om-SAS-Danmark2/Historie/?vst=true}}</ref> The first president of SAS was [[Per Norlin]].<ref name = "official pres">{{cite web |url = https://www.sasgroup.net/about-sas/sas-history/presidents-of-sas-beginning-in-1946/ |title = Presidents of SAS, beginning in 1946 |publisher = SAS |access-date = 16 April 2020}}</ref> On 17 September 1946, operations started under the new entity and the first international service was conducted between Stockholm and New York.<ref name = "official milestones">{{cite web |url = https://www.sasgroup.net/about-sas/sas-history/history-milestones/ |title = History milestones |publisher = SAS |access-date = 16 April 2020}}</ref> Within a half-year, SAS set a new record for carrying the heaviest single piece of air cargo across the Atlantic on a scheduled passenger airliner, by shipping a 1,400-pound electrical panel from New York to the [[Sandvik]] company in Sweden.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lionel|first=Daniel|date=2 March 1947|title=Along The Airways|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/54414418/|access-date=30 September 2020}}</ref>

In 1948, the Swedish flag carrier AB [[Aerotransport]] joined SAS and quickly coordinated its European operations between both carriers. Three years later, the companies formally merged to form the SAS Consortium.<ref name = "official milestones"/> When established, ownership of the airline was divided between SAS Danmark (28.6%), SAS Norge (28.6%), and SAS Sverige (42.8%), all of which were owned 50% by private investors and 50% by their governments.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The SAS Saga: A History of Scandinavian Airlines System |last=Buraas |first=Anders |publisher=SAS |year=1979 |isbn=82-90212-00-3 |page=13}}</ref>