UPDATE 2-Striking SAS unions, management to meet for mediation in Oslo

The parties involved in the pilot strike at Scandinavian airlines SAS will hold talks at the office of the Norwegian state mediator on Wednesday as the protest extended into a sixth day.

More than 300,000 travellers have been hit by the stand-off over wages and other pilot demands which analysts estimate could cost SAS $10.5 million a day, threatening to wipe out the airline's annual profit. The Norwegian mediator had called the meeting where all the negotiating teams would be sitting down together, a spokeswoman for SAS in Sweden told Reuters.

"We are glad the parties have been able to meet again and we hope that it can lead to a constructive dialogue so that this strike can be brought to an end," she said. Norwegian mediator Mats Wilhelm Ruland had earlier told Norwegian news agency NTB that work hours, shifts and salaries would be discussed at the meeting which was scheduled to start at 11 am local time (0900 GMT) in Oslo.

"We will try to find a solution to the conflict. I always believe in a solution, but this is challenging," he told NTB. The airline has already cancelled more than 500 flights scheduled for Wednesday, and the SAS spokeswoman said the company would soon send out information on whether flights would be cancelled on Thursday.

SAS' primarily listing is on the Stockholm exchange, which was closed on May 1 due to a public holiday, but its Copenhagen-traded shares rose around 6 per cent at 0939 GMT. Its Stockholm-traded shares are down around 10 per cent since the strike was announced.