Review of South African flight Johannesburg → Cape Town in Business

Airline South African
Flight SA 333
Class Business
Seat 4K
Aircraft Airbus A340-600
Flight time 02:10
Take-off 09 Sep 08, 12:00
Arrival at 09 Sep 08, 14:10
SA 57 reviews
manureva744
By 5744
Published on 14th September 2011
The day before I arrived from Sydney on Qantas. I was waited for a group of friends who were flying from Paris. We were spending 10 days in South Africa and our first stop was Capetown, one of my most favourite city in the world. If I could, I'd move there !

After a short run between the International and the domestic terminal at O.R. Tambo Johannesburg International Airport, the 11 of us were in the boarding area of the terminal. We took the bus to our Airbus 340-600 ZS-SNF.
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Our Airbus' neighbour is a Lufthansa Boeing 747-400.
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We are walking towards the plane to board.
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The are still refueling the aircraft.
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The very long fuselage of the Airbus 340-600.
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My seat, 4K
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The Business Class cabin.
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No welcome drinks, the crew doesn't care, no welcome wishes, only the chief purser is nice and pleasant. The rest of the crew will forget to serve us bread, the service is poorly conducted. I flew on SAA many times and I can say that I am very much disappointed by this flight.

After take off I get comfortable and start to play with my seat.
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The tail camera is offering a stunning view of our Airbus inflight.
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No movies or any other type of entertainment apart from the Airshow and some advice to make our flight enjoyable.
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Drinks are served before the meal, I will ask for some water and a lemonade.
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Lunch is served quickly, a tiny salad, a hot entree, a choice between fish or lamb, I chose the fish.
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Walk around the cabin, view on the left wing.
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View of the cabin from the last row.
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The toilets and the throne with a view !
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We are approaching Capetown, we go over the sea and turn back towards the airport.
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Picture of my seat before leaving the aircraft.
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We arrived in Capetown and we are taken to the terminal with the help of a bus.
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The Capetown domestic terminal.
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A few pictures of this stunning South African region.
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Here is where the Indian Ocean weds the Atlantic Ocean…
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Verdict

South African

7.1/10
Cabin9.5
Cabin crew6.5
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Meal/catering7.5

Johannesburg - JNB

7.1/10
Efficiency7.5
Access5.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness8.0

Cape Town - CPT

7.1/10
Efficiency8.0
Access5.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness8.0

Conclusion

Departed on time, arrived on time.

The SAA seat is very comfortable, is full flat and when it was introduced it won bed Business Class seat. Since then it was surpassed by seats from BA, CX or SQ...

The crew was very disappointing, no smiles, you could wonder if they were going to Robben Island on arrival... Luckily, the Chief Purser was very pleasant but I wasn't lucky as she was serving the passengers in the other aisle.

The meal was OK, nothing exceptional which is a shame as the South African cuisine is excellent, mixing indian, dutch, malay food...

A good product that was poorly executed by the cabin crew on this flight.

Information on the route Johannesburg (JNB) → Cape Town (CPT)

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