European Scandinavian Airlines System

The history of Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) from 1933 to 1951 covers the first attempts at transatlantic travel, the establishment of a consortium and finally the establishment of the consolidated SAS. Aerotransport, the national airline of Sweden, and Det Norske Luftfartselskap (DNL), the national airline of Norway, both started planning transatlantic routes in the mid-1930s. By 1939, negotiations were started with Det Danske Luftfartselskab (DDL) of Denmark, and by 1940 services were to begin. Because of the German occupation of Denmark and Norway, the plans collapsed. In Sweden, Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik (SILA) was founded to start private transatlantic flights, which commenced in 1945. Negotiations were started again, and in 1946 the consortium Overseas Scandinavian Airlines System (OSAS) was established to start routes to New York and South America.

From 1948, the airlines pooled all their aircraft into European Scandinavian Airlines System (ESAS), which used the SAS brand for all domestic and European services. However, ESAS was only a business agreement, and when DNL threatened to leave to cooperation in 1950, it was agreed to merge the operations of the three airlines into a consolidated consortium. With the merger, the national governments secured a 50% ownership of their respective holding companies. In the 1940s, SAS operated a fleet of Douglas DC-3, DC-4 and DC-6, Vickers VC.1 Viking, Saab Scandia land planes, and Short Sandringham and Junkers Ju-52 seaplanes.

...
Wikipedia