For decades priority boarding was more or less non-existent when travelling on shorthaul flights in Europe, but on the positive side many airlines are improving rapidly. However when it comes to SAS priority boarding has always been a. bit of a weak point. Even though they do offer it at more and more airports in Europe the announcements are often hard to follow and there is insufficient signage, either non-existent or with signs that simply cannot be read from far, and the staff do not always follow up.
But also at SAS things are improving. Yesterday at Copenhagen Kastrup airport I got to experience the new priority boarding process, and it is significantly better than anything I have seen or experienced before.
The boarding sequence was clearly shown on the gate screens, and not only screen in singular but on screens throughout the entire gate lounge. And you could very clearly see the different boarding groups and which groups they had already invited for boarding. Very clear and very straight-forward.
But to be honest I never knew there were that many boarding groups. As SAS EuroBonus Gold I always get Group A on my boarding pass, irrespective of cabin class, and on top of this on this flight I was also seated in the premium cabin, SAS Plus. But other than the two priority boarding groups there are no less than four other groups, also on shorthaul intra-Scandinavian flights, named E, F, G and H. I would presume groups C and D are reserved for longhaul flights.
But this was indeed a nice improvement at Copenhagen airport and from what I could see the boarding pass machine automatically denied access to those who tried to board to early, when their boarding group had not been called yet.
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