[cwoodward]

I was very pleased to see the route that I predicted in posts last year has now been formally announced however the only aircraft that SAA have currently available to service the route is far from optimal and unlikely to be able to handle the 3 X 12 hour return flights per week.
This 19 year old four engined A340 delivered new to the airline in 2007 has a poor recent reliability history, carries little freight and is costly to operate.
Currently the airline has no replacement option available for when this their only A340 is unavailable meaning that flights will be cancelled.
A significant amount of high value fresh produce and seafood freight is also available in both directions as the route is currently underserved and for which the A340 is a wholly inadequate aircraft for the job.

SAA’s CEO has mentioned that the Airbus A340 is only being used in the ‘launch phase of the route’, paving the way for the airline’s newer Airbus A330-300s or Airbus A350-900s to take over in the future. It seems that an A350 lease has been secured and another youngish (6.5 yo) A330 is already in SA and joining the fleet. Possible it would have been better to delay the launch for a a couple of months until an aircraft capable of properly servicing the route was secured however the fledgling recovery is in dire need of the revenue one assumes.
Hopefully by April ether the A350 or an A330 will be available for this important launch

The historically popular Perth route is vitally important to SAAs future and it is vital to that future that they secure quickly adequate equipment to service it . Some 45000 South Africans have made Perth and WA their home in recent years with many thousands more across Australia and New Zealand likely to fly through Perth to SA. The country is also immensely popular with Australians as a tourist destination.

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LuganoPirate, T4Fan, GivingupBA

[sparkyflier]

Perth is a wise choice for a route resumption and good to see SAA restart it.

But age alone of the A340 for me is not a factor – many airlines have aircraft well over 20 which are in excellent condition. coodward – you said that it had reliability issues – but wondering if this is SAA over/poorly scheduling the aircraft or has the aircraft gone tech on multiple occasions? When I first saw the initial schedules for their GRU routes from Joburg and CT I did wonder if there was any slack.

What I do not like about the A340-300 is that it takes ages to get to cruising altitude and when on it one has wondered if it will actually get up there (the -600 series is different however and has a superb take off)! IMO an underpowered aircraft however it is nice inside.

An advantage of this A340 however is that it is fully owned by SAA – no leases or loans to fork out for each month.

[LuganoPirate]

Fully agree with you Cwoodward, and I understand SAA are desperately trying to source an A330 or A350 to supplement the fleet, and allow them to dispose of the 340.
Perth is also perfect for onward connections, as currently only Sydney is served, and that by Qantas (codeshare) out of Johannesburg.

Further, using the ME3 out of S. Africa to Australia does not really make sense, though an Australian friend of mine does fly with / via Singapore to Sydney as they fly into and out of Cape Town with a brief stop in Johannesburg.

A friend of mine (ex senior SAA Captain) organises training programmes for SAA and I’ll be seeing him next week, so I’ll try and get some more info and report back here.

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cwoodward

[LuganoPirate]

I know Swiss had a lot of reliability issues with their 340’s, though they did not admit it. Flights to JNB were often cancelled, and I’m delighted they are now using the 777 on this route. Dispatch reliability has shot up and I’m touching wood as I type this, as I’ll be flying with them next week!

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AMcWhirter, cwoodward, sparkyflier

[Mark]

Think we all prefer you keep your hands on the “keyboard”😉

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Ekond222, SimonS1

[Author]

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