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Buza imibuzo ngoSAA Hierdie blad is ook in Afrikaans beskikbaar. Sien SAL. Latest SAA news: SAA is offering onward flights from Frankfurt to Oslo & Stockholm through Scandinavian Airlines Don't watch these movies before your long-haul flight, as they're currently showing - The Guilt Trip, This Means War, Live Free or Die Hard, Hyde Park on Hudson, You've got Mail.
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South African Airways

South African Airways (SAA) is South Africa's government owned national carrier (it also owns the other government carrier, Mango airline). It offers the most comprehensive coverage of flight routes within South Africa, to and from South Africa. SAA is a full service carrier, so do not expect the cheap flight prices one would get with the low cost carriers, but do expect free meals and drinks.The airline was awarded a 4-star ranking by Skytrax for 2013. South African Airways is a member of the Star Alliance, allowing seamless bookings with partner airlines.

Latest SAA flight reviews

(South Africa Travel Online does not necessarily share the views expressed below)

• 19 May 2013. My best flight experience was on SAA, the whole aeroplane is completely different to the others, you feel like you are sitting in first class even though you are in economy, you get treated the same as those in first class, the airline staff are friendly and look after your every need, the seats are comfortable and spacious and you do not feel cramped throughout the flight. You can get cheaper air tickets on South African Airways, everyone always goes for other airlines because they THINK they are cheaper but if you look carefully you will see that SAA is very competitive with their prices. What a wonderful airline, smart, sophisticated and brilliant take-offs and landings!!! Kind regards. Dawn Wallenkamp

• 10 May 2013. Jessica gets into the finals for a Jenny Cole Real Woman competition, and flies with South African Airways to Durban: "The warm welcoming and great hospitality we received on the flight overwhelmed me", and when Jessica's ears started hurting as the plane came into land the hostess helped her out by providing a stick of chewing hum.

• 1 May 2013. Loyiso Bala recounts how "A South African Airways cabin crew member once saved my show. I was travelling from Germany to Cape Town. The South African Airways flight was cancelled. I had 15 000 people who were looking forward to seeing me perform the next day. The Grand West venue in Cape Town was sold out and I was the headline artist. Luckily, one of the cabin crew members recognised my face and helped me get on another flight. I made it to Cape Town on time and had the most awesome night on stage, with three standing ovations!" As quoted from the May edition of Sawubon

• 29 April 2013: MTT shares her experiences of a situation many of us have found ourselves in - needing the loo as a plane is about to come in to land! She was on an SAA flight from Maputo to Johannesburg: "Next thing I ran to the on board loo.. On my way there the air-hostess tried to stop me as we were about to land and we had to buckle up. Soon after that there was a knock and I heard her voice again ~'Ma'am could you hurry up, and return to your seat please, you have to buckle up for landing. How funny... was my thoughts at the time... How does one hurry up when one is having a runny tummy because of nerves? lol 'Please why don't you people make provisions for emergencies like these inside the toilet too? What about seat belts?' Well guess what? I landed quite safely sitting on the loo without buckling up!"

• 27 April 2013: Paula hopped onto an SAA flight from Perth to Joburg and then onward to Durban, finding the cabin crew "extremely pleasant and efficient", and got lucky with an empty seat next to her window seat. She struggled a bit at OR Tambo International Airport to find domestic departures.

• 22 April 2013: "My friend and I went to switzerland to visit his sister he had not seen for many years. We flew with South African Airways, and other than the seat space, everything was fantastic - the staff were so helpful and friendly at the airport as well as on the plane, there was a big selection of movies and music to listen to on the plane, and the food was excellent and more than enough for us. But there was no space for my legs and I could not sleep. Before we came back we booked the seats on the first row for its leg space only to find they changed the planes and we were sitting in the second row. Everybody was so cross that had the same problem." Jeane

• April 2013: Carmen & Lee-Ann Pretorius say that "We experienced our firstever flight on SAA from East London
  to Johannesburg. It was amazing: we enjoyed the entire trip, from take-off to landing. We'll definitely fly with SAA again for our next journey." as quoted in Sawubona Magazine

• 22 March 2013: Kirabo does a review of his South African Airways flight - he finds the amenities decent, food portions a bit small, enjoys their in-flight entertainment system and found the bookin process smooth.

• 20 March 2013: Alexis dreads the trip to South Africa because of her husband's phobia of flying; but South African Airways' flight attendants rise to the occasion.

• 5 January 2013: Rubenthree goes on a pilgrimate with SAA to India, and in the process falls in love with the airline.

• 4 January 2013: Thokozani's favourite airline is South African Airways - as a full service carrier he enjoys its complimentary snacks and drinks, friendly flight attendants, and the numerous international flight routes it offers.

30 July 2012: David flew with SAA from New York to Malawi via Johannesburg: "The seats were large and comfortable, the movie selection was awesome as was the music (new releases and award-winning films and music albums.) I was served 3 meals, snacks and offered complimentary beer and wine throughout my flight (and I did not even fly business class!). The onboard staff made the flight as pleasant as possible by coming around often to pick up trash, offer more snacks or drinks and by keeping the lights turned off so that the passengers could get some much-needed rest. I was also given a pouch with toothbrush, toothpaste, socks and eye mask, and also a big, plushy blanket and pillow."

9 Apr 2012: Dan & Marcela flew from Munich to Port Elizabeth with SAA, via Johannesburg. Here's some of their thoughts: "The seats were a little older but the space we had was amazing! It felt even more spacious than our Lufthansa business class seat. I had to really reach over to grab stuff from the seat back pocket in front of us." "I discovered a new drink that I really liked called Grapetiser, which is basically a sparkling grape juice. It became my favorite drink during my stay in South Africa." "After dinner we put our seats in sleeping mode and they turned into a fully flat bed."

6 Feb 2012: South African Airways review of a flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg - they were far from cheapest, but did offer us a free roll & a bit of legspace.

31 Jan 2010: On this SAA Cape Town - Durban flight they provide proof that Kulula do not have the monopoly on in-flight humour.

19 Jan 2008: I fly SAA from CPT to JNB en-route to Mumbai, India.

18 Nov 2007: Aw, we didn't get seats next to each other - see our SAA flight review.

22 Jun 2007: Impressed with automated check-ins for my SAA flight to Cape Town.

20 Jun 2007: No queues for me on this SAA flight to Johannesburg.

SAA's aircraft

14 May 2013. Malusi Gigaba, the Minister of Public Enterprises, announces that South African Airways will start receiving its 20 new A320 Airbuses "in the next quarter", which it is purchasing to improve the fuel efficiency of the long haul fleet.

Airbus A319-100	11
Airbus A320-200	2
Boeing 737-800	13
Airbus A330-200	6
Airbus A340-200	1
Airbus A340-300E	8
Airbus A340-600	9

Boeing 737-800

Capacity	157
Cruise Speed	809.5 km/h
Length	39.5 meters
Wingspan	35.8 meters

Airbus A319-100

Capacity	120
Cruise Speed	820 km/h
Length	33.84 meters
Wingspan	34.09 meters

Airbus A330-200

Capacity	222
Length	58.8 meters
Wingspan	60.3 meters

Airbus A340-200

Capacity	250
Cruise Speed	870 km/h
Length	59.4 meters
Wingspan	60.3 meters

Airbus A340-300

Capacity	253
Cruise Speed	860 km/h
Length	63.6 meters
Wingspan	60.3 meters

Airbus A340-600

Capacity	317
Cruise Speed	886 km/h
Length	75.3 meters
Wingspan	30.5 meters

SAA flight reservations

Call centre	Reservations	Customer Service	Online bookings
0861 FLY SAA 0861 359 722 +27 11 978 5313	+27 11 978 1111 (24 hours) reservationsjnb@flysaa.com	+27 11 978 2888 0860 003 146 saacustomerservice@flysaa.com	flysaa Protip - compare prices with other airlines.

Be sure to compare flight prices before you making a reservation.

Liveries on SAA planes

Well done to Raydon Designs for compiling this set of SAA Aircraft liveries, as they were historically and today.

 

Latest SAA flight special

Here's the latest SAA special (flights get sold out very quickly and prices change rapidly, unless you're booking on the actual morning of the day of the special, it's likely it's sold out by now):

JNB-CPT			JNB-DUR	JNB-ELS	JNB-LON	JNB-MRU	JNB-PLZ	JNB-VFA	CPT-DUR
17 May 2013. Let's have a look at South African Airways flight prices during the next school holidays. School holidays start on the 22nd June, but airfares are normally high right at the starts of the holidays, so let's look at the cheapest one-way flight prices on the 29th June 2013.
R1169*			R884*	R987*	R9685*	R5400*	R1374	R1993*	R1766*

 

 

ª = return flights

SAA baggage restrictions

SAA has changed to a piece luggage concept. Very basically, in economy class 1 piece of checked-luggage is allowed, weighing a maximum of 23kg; and one piece of carry-on luggage with a maximum of 8kg (there are also dimension limits). There are some exceptions to this, so check with SAA at the time of your travel. "Excess baggage charges will apply for:

• Each piece of baggage over and above the passenger’s baggage allowance
• Each piece of overweight baggage
• Each piece of oversize baggage"

SAA flight review

25 Jul 2010. "Country Gourmet Traveller" caught a South African Airways flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg to Dakar to New York, which he describes as one of his "favourite airlines": "What I like already is that there is more leg space than in many other airlines which makes long hauls a lot easier. I was flying from Cape Town to Johannesburg and then via Dakar to New York which is a 17 hour long trip, so it is very much appreciated to have these couple of extra centimetres... The service was outstanding, the food was good, ok the sandwich was a little weak, some sloppy wrap with beef inside, nothing to write about, but then the hot meal was very good and nicely presented. The choice of course the usual beef or chicken and I opted for the chicken, very tasty and good, no complaints. The movie choice could have been a bit better, but I guess if one doesn’t fly too often it is perfectly fine. I slept quite a bit on the way so it didn’t matter too much. The service passes often with refreshments, so one is very well looked after."

Flight routes

South African flights

SAA operates domestic flights in South Africa to Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, East London, George, Hoedspruit, Johannesburg, Kimberley, Maseru, Nelspruit/Kruger, Phalaborwa, Pietermartizburg, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, and Upington. See:

• South African Airways flights to Durban

International flights

SAA operates international flights from Johannesburg to many major cities in the world. It flies from Cape Town to Walvis Bay and Windhoek. From Johannesburg, South African Airways flies internationally to Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Antananarivo, Bangkok, Beijing, Beira, Blantyre, Brazzaville, Buenos Aires, Bujumbura, Bulawayo, Cairo, Cotonou, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Douala, Entebbe, Frankfurt, Gaborone, Harare, Hong Kong, Kasane, Kigali, Kinshasa, Lagos, Libreville, Lilongwe, Livingstone, London, Luanda, Lubumbashi, Lusaka, Manzini, Maputo, Maseru, Maun, Mauritius, Mumbai, Munich, Nairobi, Nampula, Ndola, New York, Pemba, Perth, Phalaborwa, Pietermaritzburg, Pointe-Noire, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Sydney, Tete, Victoria Falls, Vilankulos, Walvis Bay, Washington, Windhoek and Zurich.

Business class

Business class differs between short and long haul flights. On a short haul the main difference between an economy and business class seat is that it's slightly larger. On long haul flights you get a seat which can be folded back so that it's flat, with the armrests folding down to increase the width of the "bed". The seat can give you a massage, if you feel the need. There's a pricavy screen, and on request you'll be supplied with a pillow & duvet. There's a power point for you to charge up your electronic equipment. Since December 2012 SAA have been providing noise cancelling headsets and an bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste, a comb/brush, shades & socks.

Meals

Meals & drinks on South African Airways flights are included in the airfare.

In 2013 the following wines are served on South African Airways domestic, international and regional flights (and in business class lounges): Stellenrust Chenin Blanc 201, Cederberg Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, Anura Brut Chardonnay/Pinot Noir 2009 and KWV Tawny Port N/V.

Frequent flyer program

SAA Voyager frequent flyer program; which has several tiers depending on how much flying is done with South African Airways - blue is the beginning tier, silver, gold, platinum and lifetime platinum.

Callsign & IATA code

Callsign: SPRINGBOK
IATA code: SA
ICAO code: SAA

Overbooking on SAA flights

Since the 14th October 2006 South African Airways no longer compensate their passengers who miss a flight as a result of overbooking.

SAA pilots

SAA is busy with a program aiming to increase the number of black pilots, through its accelerated programme for black cadets. Other domestic South African airlines have not shown as great an urgency to increasing the percentage of blacks amongst their crew, as South African Airways.

SAA Car Hire

Renting a car with SAA is often cheaper than going directly through the main car rental agencies, because of the discounts which SAA has negotiated. SAA car rental partners are Avis, Budget, Europcar & Hertz.

SAA Holidays

In June 2012 SAA Holidays was launched - as well as offering SAA flights, accommodation & car hire may be booked through SAA Holidays.

SAA safety

From 1970 to 2000 South African Airways flew some 1.6 million flights with 1 fatal accident (0.6 fatal events per million flights). The fatal flight occured on the 28th November 1987; when a South African Airways 747- 200 Combi (the Helderberg), flying from Chiang Kai Shek International Airport to to Johannesburg via Mauritius, crashed during flight over the Indian Ocean, between Taiwan and South Africa, apparently as a result of a fire in the main deck cargo area. All 19 crew and 141 passengers were killed.

Before 1970 there accidents included the following:

• 20 April 1968. Flight SA228 crashes near Windhoek, with the loss of 123 lives.

• 13 March 1967. SA406 crashes into the sea near East London, with all 25 people on board dying

• 6 March 1962. Only the pilot & first officer die when SA512 crashes near Seymour, Eastern Cape

• 8 April 1954. All 21 people on the plane die when SA201 crashes off the coast of Italy.

SAA's Skytrax ratings

SAA has a 4 star rating with Skytrax. SAA flights have been voted the best in Africa, by Skytrax, for 11 years up to 2013.

SAA's marketing

Airline tickets are mostly sold online. Unlike major competitors like British Airways, Air France, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic and KLM; SAA has not set up affiliate marketing agreements to leverage sales on the internet. South Africans Airways' offline marketing effort has not had as much impact with members of SouthAfrica.to, as other airlines like British Airways.

Sawubona magazine

Sawubona means 'greetings' in Nguni. Sawubona is the name of South African Airways' in-flight magazine, carried on all SAA flights - international and domestic:

• SAA Sawubona May 2013: Focus on holidaying in Argentina. They weigh up the relative merits of staying in hotels versus luxury apartments. There are some handy tips for getting sleep in on those long international flights (Ed: I'm thinking of that brutally long Johannesburg to New York flight). Want to hire a very expensive car? SAA look at the new BMW 7 series vehicles. And then finally an issue sensitive to many South Africans : Cape Town v Johannesburg! The Acting Chief Executive, Nico Bezuidenhout, draws attention to South African Airways' hosting of the International Air Transport Association's AGM from the 2nd to the 4th June 2013 (in Cape town).

SAA's board

SAA's board members are much in demand by other companies! South African Airways' CEO (Khaya Ngqula) sits on 23 boards whilst their chairman (Jakes Gerwel) holds 26 directorships . In total the 10 South African Airways board members hold 136 directorships. Clearly the SAA board spend a fair chunk of their time solving other companies' problems.

SAA Museum

Something interesting to do when in Johannesburg is visit the SAA Museum at Rand Airport.

Legal entity

South African Airways (Proprietary) Limited Reg. No. 1997/0022444/07.

Subsidiaries of South African Airways

Airchefs (Pty) Ltd
Airchefs International (Pty) Ltd
SAA City Centre (Pty) Ltd
SAA Technical (Pty) Ltd
International Aviation Personnel (Pty) Ltd
Air Tanzania (Pty) Ltd (Tanzania) 

Financial Statements

The financial statements of South African Airways run from 1 April to 31 March, and the airline's business is conducted through 4 subsidiaries (Mango Airlines, SAA Technical, Air Chefs & the South African Travel Centre), 2 partner airlines and 2 business units.

	Gross Operating profit
2011/2012 financials of SAA	(1 315)	Attention is drawn to SAA being an "economic enabler", & indicating that South African Airways' contribution to Gross Domestic Product in South Africa is R8.6bn & supports 35,000 jobs. Mango Airlines started flights from Lanseria Airport, and SAA signed a codeshare with Mango regarding its Lanseria - Cape Town flights (it also has a codeshare with Mango Airlines for the Cape Town - Durban flights).
2010/2011 financials of SAA	1 006	The Fifa World Cup is celebrated.
2009/2010 financials of SAA	1458	Attention is drawn to South African Airways being "severely undercapitalised"
2008/2009 financials of SAA	1898	As a result of their restructuring R2.5bn in costs were taken out over a 2 year period.
2007/2008 financials of SAA	(1372)	On a world-wide basis, the airline industry turned a profit in 2007 for the first time since 2000.
2006/2007 financials of SAA	(660)	SAA joins the Star Alliance in March 2006.
2005/2006 financials of SAA	395	Contracts with suppliers were renegotiated, realising R1.3bn in savings.
2004/2005 financials of SAA	581	The "other airline income" figures increased by 89%, due to the release of tickets which weren't used from SAA's air traffic liability account, & the fuel levy.
2003/2004 financials of SAA (part of Transnet's)	134	The fleet is being renewed & the 1st of 41 brand new Airbuses were delivered in Jan 2003.
2002/2003 financials of SAA	545	Revenue increased by 19.5%, with more passengers being carried and yields improving.
2001/2002 financials of SAA	(1 320)	51% of SAA's expenses are denominated in US Dollars, and were negatively impacted by the devaluation in the Rand.
2000/2001 financials of SAA	(1 725)

British Airways v SAA

Battle of the full service carriers

Partner Airlines

South African Airways have a strong partnership with Mango Airlines, SA Express and Airlink. In particular, SA Express and Airlink, and sometimes Mango Airlines flights are listed as results when using SAA's flight booking system.

SAA Pets

South African Airways have certain rules for transporting pets - see SAA pets for details.