Strike-hit airline SAS cancels 504 flights on Wednesday

SAS said it was cancelling 504 flights scheduled for Wednesday, affecting about 47,000 passengers, as much of its fleet remained grounded for a fifth day on Tuesday due to a pilot strike at the Scandinavian airline.

"The unions have not yet indicated that they are ready to release their ultimate demands and return to the negotiating table, which means that we remain in a deadlock," SAS CEO Rickard Gustafson said in a statement.

SAS pilots went out on strike on Friday as wage talks broke down, grounding around 70 per cent of the airline's flights and impacting the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers.