Beleaguered Scandinavian carrier SAS would be better off if it were sold or joined forces with another airline, company chief executive Mats Jansson said in an interview published Tuesday.

"In my opinion, after we have gotten through this very difficult crisis, SAS should enter into a structural deal," he told the Dagens Nyheter daily.

Jansson has in the past voiced skepticism to selling the airline, but in Tuesday's interview he said he had "become older and wiser."

"Making it on our own is not a goal in itself ... I have reached the insight that (a sale) is definitely the best solution for all parties," he said.

Germany's leading airline Lufthansa has long been mentioned as a possible rescuer for SAS, but Jansson said it was too early to speculate on who might buy the Scandinavian company.

"First we need a capital injection from our shareholders and then we need to get our cashflow going so we can make SAS interesting again," he said, adding that "if we don't do our homework there will be no interest on the market for us."

Last month, SAS reported a worse-than-expected fourth quarter net loss of 1.3 billion kronor (176 million dollars, 128 million euros) and said it would cut 650 jobs.

It also went hat in hand to its shareholders, begging for a cash injection of around 500 million euros (700 million dollars), less than a year after requesting that its owners step up with more than 600 million euros.

"2010 will be a very difficult year, but starting in 2011 we will show positive numbers on our balance sheet," Jansson said.

The Swedish government, which with its 21.4-percent-stake is the largest shareholder in SAS, last month sought parliamentary approval allowing it to sell its holdings in the airline but said it would not do so until it could make a profit.