SAS Braathens had a route network covering 40 destinations from Longyearbyen in the north to Las Palmas in the south.

Through its parent Scandinavian Airlines, SAS Braathens was a member of the global Star Alliance network.

Since it was established in April 2004, SAS Braathens has created or announced a total of 18 new international routes.

Scandinavian Airlines was founded on 1 August 1946 when the flag carriers of Denmark, Sweden and Norway formed a partnership to handle intercontinental traffic to Scandinavia.

The companies embarked on coordination of European operations in 1948 and finally merged to form the current SAS Consortium in 1951.

The ownership structure of SAS was changed in June 2001, with a holding company being created in which the holdings of the governments changed to Sweden (21.4%), Norway (14.3%) and Denmark (14.3%) and the remaining 50% publicly held and traded on the stock market.

The April 2006 strike benefitted SAS Braathens' main competitor, Norwegian Air Shuttle.

SAS Braathens CEO Petter Jansen was forced to leave office in June 2006 after disputes with the SAS management in Stockholm, causing much controversy and debate in Norway, since Jansen was leading the only national branch of Scandinavian Airlines that made a profit.