Scandinavian Airlines has confirmed it will launch new Copenhagen-Shanghai services on March 1st 2012.

The five-time weekly service will offer short and smooth connections time from all over Scandinavia and European destinations such as London, Munich, Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, Vienna and the Baltic capitals to Shanghai.

From Shanghai, both SAS partners Air China and Shanghai Airlines offer a wide range of onward destinations, specifically in Southern China, but also across Asia.

“The demand for traffic to China is again growing significantly and we see the need for an additional route, complementing our successful Copenhagen-Beijing and other Asian routes.

“This new service also offers a multitude of smooth transfers on both ends, making it an accessible and quick route for many European and Asian travellers,” said Robin Kamark, chief commercial officer, Scandinavian Airlines.

The Copenhagen-Shanghai route will be served by an Airbus A340-300, the largest aircraft in the SAS fleet, offering 245 seats in a three service class set up of Business, Economy Extra and Economy.

Departures from Copenhagen on SK997, will be on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 18:25, arriving the following day in Shanghai at 11:35.

Departures from Shanghai on SK998, will be at 13:25 on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

SAS has been nominated as Europe’s Leading Airline by the World Travel Awards, with the winner set to be revealed later this year.