Sweden-USA: gay weddings aboard SAS in stratosphere

Going both ways between Sweden and America, SAS becomes first gay wedding chapel in the heavens. 

  • SAS Scandinavian Airlines is hoping to host the world's first same-sex wedding in the air onboard an Airbus A340 between Stockholm and New York on December 6.
  • SAS Scandinavian Airlines is hoping to host the world's first same-sex wedding in the air onboard an Airbus A340 between Stockholm and New York on December 6 this year. To find the couple, the airline launched a major social media campaign in September, "Love is in the air" (www.flysas.com/love) or (http://www.flysas.com/love).

  • SAS is simultaneously running a US version of the competition with VisitSweden and the Stockholm Gay/Lesbian Network, where one couple will win a wedding and honeymoon package to Sweden, including Business class flights with SAS to Sweden, two nights' accommodation at the world-renowned ICEHOTEL, where the couple will get married, two nights' accommodation at Hotel Skeppsholmen in Stockholm and a VIP Stockholm package organized by the Stockholm Visitors Board.

  • At www.flysas.com/love (http://www.flysas.com/love) couples can create a profile and upload either a video or photos along with a presentation, which others can then vote on. For the best chance to win, couples are recommended to share their profile with as many friends as possible via various social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, in order to increase the number of votes .The couple with the most votes will then marry in what will hopefully be the first same-sex wedding onboard a commercial flight.

  • "Airlines, including SAS, have organized weddings onboard flights for decades, but we would be the first in the world to organize a same-sex wedding in the air. SAS is the national airline of three of the world's most liberal and progressive countries in the world, especially when it comes to LGBT rights, so we feel this is a natural celebration of love," says Robin Kamark, Chief Commercial Officer, SAS.

  • The lucky couple will win Business class return flights with SAS to New York, three nights' luxury accommodation in New York, flights to Los Angeles, three nights' luxury accommodation at the Andaz Hotel, West Hollywood, and a glamorous West Hollywood honeymoon experience.

  • To celebrate the occasion, SAS will turn a part of its Stockholm lounge into a wedding lounge and one of the Business class cabins onboard SK903 on December 6 will be made into an exclusive wedding cabin.

  • To enter a profile or view other couples, please go to www.flysas.com/love (http://www.flysas.com/love).

  • Resource: SAS, Scandinavian Airlines Systems, sas.com

  • Special interest travel is a big sector for the travel industry these days, with the so-called LGBT tourism among the faster growing. According to industry statistics compiled by CMI the groups of people of the LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) sector have higher than average incomes and travel more then the average household. Since the start in 1998, for instance Stockholm Pride has grown to become one of Sweden's and Stockholm's largest annual outdoor events, as well as one of the largest Pride celebrations in Europe. The organizers estimated about 35,000 visitors attended the finale of this year's Stockholm festival for homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender people. Each year Stockholm Pride attracts visitors from all over the world.