 During the discussion about deregulation , Braathens SAFE considered several possibilities to strengthen itself . In particular , it had discussions with the large European airlines Lufthansa , British Airways and KLM about an alliance , but these were rejected by Braathens SAFE , stating that the agreements were all about getting traffic to the partner 's hub . Minister of Transport , Kjell Opseth and director of SAS in Norway , Jan Reinås , both proposed a merger between Braathens SAFE and SAS , to ensure that the company had a 100 % market share on the primary routes before the merger . This would , according to them , secure that no foreign company could compete with the merged company . The proposal was rejected by Braathens SAFE 's management . Still , negotiations started between the companies in 1992 , although they were quickly abandoned . The press reported the price of Braathens SAFE to be NOK 1 @.@ 2 billion , but that this had been rejected as too expensive by SAS . 
