jim98,

Refer to SAA's website. They are AVOD equiped on international flights

Darren

Thanks again Darren, I did read that part but wasn't sure if it meant all international flights.

Cheers,
Jim

Just been checking the flights again and looked at Seatguru, which I assumed to be accurate. According to that the SA221 ( aircraft 342 ) does not have AVOD but just the overhead screens. Can you confirm if this is correct Darren please?
The return JNB-LHR ( aircraft 346 does appear to have AVOD )

Cheers,

Jim

jim98,

That's correct. The A342 has main screen, the A346 AVOD.

Darren

Would like some further advice on one of my flights please.
We are booked on SA220 on 13/10/11 Cape Town to LHR and had been given seats 61A & 61C by our TA. Looking on the SAA website I couldn't find the plane or any plane which had seats 61A&C. I contacted SAA and they said it was because it was one of their new A330-200 planes. Where can I find a seat plan for this plane and has anyone got any views on how good it's predicted to be in terms of comfort, seat pitch etc?

Cheers,

Jim

jim98,

This aircraft type isn't in service with SAA as yet, their first one (ZS-SXZ) only had it's first flight in Toulouse at the Airbus factory on 17th January and is having it's interior fitted at the moment. SAA might not have published their seating plan as yet. If you leave it a month or two, I'm sure they'll update their website with details. The A332 is a fabulous aircraft, I've been on loads of them. SAA's interior won't be much different to what they have now on their long haul Airbus aircraft in terms of seat pitches, but it'll have a newer generation of seat back IFE.

Darren

Great new Darren, let's hope they're in service by October. The one problem I had with the original flight was the overhead monitors but this could solve that problem.

Cheers,

Jim

But seats 61a and 61c on a A330?.....tight no?.....

Nivsy

When I first started to solve the 'where are 61A&C' problem I looked at other A330-200's and could only find 40 or so rows but when I checked with SAA they claim row 61 is about 6 rows back from the middle. My TA could obviously bring up the aircraft on their system so I think I'll get them to have a look.

Jim

nivsy wrote:

But seats 61a and 61c on a A330?.....tight no?.....

jim98 wrote:

I looked at other A330-200's and could only find 40 or so rows

Seats aren't always numbered consecutively. For fleet commonality, seats in different travel classes may start or finish within a specific range of numbers, eg business 1-10, premium economy 15-25, economy 30-70 etc. This makes is easier when operating a mixed fleet if you have travel classes within certain numbers. Even though the A332 is a smaller aircraft than say the A346, the economy seats may be numbered in a similar fashion. Row 60 isn't necassarily the 60th row on the aircraft, it might be the 40th, but it's numbered in that way. Many airlines operate this sort of numbering system.

Darren

Mmmm - not come across such a seating variation on any of the many operators I have been on lately. The first SAA A330 has actually arrived at Capetown last week I understand....

According to my TA the second section of the aircraft starts at row 45 and goes back to row 68.

Jim

I have inside information regarding the seating configuration of the new SAA South African Airways A330-200 aircraft, the economy cabin is laid out in a 2x4x2 seating configuration, the economy seating starts from Row 45 and goes through to Row 68, the two seats on the left hand side of the aircraft will have the letters A&C, the four middle seats are DEFG, and the two right hand side seats are H&K, Row 55 is the emergency exit Row and this Row will be the most sought after by passengers for the huge extra legroom that this Row will have, however, you will probably not be able to pre-reserve this Row as it will usually be allocated on a first come first served basis at Airport Check-In or maybe online. Other things to note regarding the seating is that from Row 65 to 68, the part of the aircraft where the fuselage narrows, there are only 3 seats in the middle of the aircraft rather than 4 seats, also on Row 68 there are no left hand side A&C seats. All economy seats will have the benefit of full AVOD on 10inch seat back screens. The Business Class cabin will feature 42 fully lie-flat sleeper beds all with AVOD 12 inch screens, these Business seats will be located in two separate cabins in a seating configuration of 2x2x2, the forward Business Class Cabin will be Rows 1, 2, 3, the seat lettering will be A&C of the left hand side D&G in the middle and H&K on the right hand side. After Row 3 their will be a Galley and Washroom Area and then immediately behind this will be another 3 rows of Business Class seating being Row numbers 4,5,6 and again in 2x2x2 configuration. Behind Row 6 the Economy Cabin will start at Row 45 through to Row 68, economy cabin washrooms will located between Rows 54 and 55 and at the back of the aircraft directly behind Row 68. Seat pitch in the Business Cabin will be 74 inches, in the economy cabin it will be 32-33 inches.

Corrieextra,

That basically confirms my information, thanks. Do you have any information regarding seat pitch yet?

Jim

SAA scraps direct London to Cape Town route

South African Airways is scrapping its direct service from Heathrow to Cape Town ahead of the city's peak season.

All flights will be via Johannesburg from 15th August and all passengers booked on the direct service will either be transferred to the new route or offered a refund.

The airline cites increased competition from both direct and indirect services as the reason.

It also says the market between the UK and South Africa has shrunk by 24% over the last three years due to increased APD and the £52 visa fee for South Africans coming to the UK.

This will be a major blow to tourism in the Western Cape and leaves British Airways as the only carrier to flying direct from London to Cape Town all year round.

Virgin operates a daily direct service from October to late March.

SAA launched its direct service between Cape Town and London in 1992 but since then numerous international airlines have added Cape Town to their routes.

Airlines like Emirates have started flights from Cape Town to Dubai which connect to various other hubs including Heathrow.

"A thorough analysis of the route made it clear that we could use our aircraft more profitably elsewhere while continuing to ensure excellent business and tourism links between the Western Cape and the UK with our significant capacity via Johannesburg," said Theunis Potgieter, SAA"s general manager commercial.

"Anyone who has booked a flight between Cape Town and London after August 15th will be rerouted via Johannesburg at no additional charge," said Potgieter. "Passengers choosing not to be rerouted will be refunded."

SAA currently has two daily services between London Heathrow and Johannesburg and will be increasing its capacity on these flights by 13% through use of larger aircraft to accommodate passengers on this route.

The airline says aircraft will be redeployed to better serve its growing Accra, Mumbai and Perth routes and to add Abidjan to the network.

With permission from Travelmole