Good looks and comfort for SAA
South African Airways (SAA) has taken delivery of two new Airbus A320 aircraft, bringing to six the number of narrow-bodied planes added to the SAA fleet in 2014.
SAA’s country manager for Australasia, Tim Clyde-Smith, said the new aircraft would greatly boost the airline’s capabilities on shorter routes within Africa while adding significantly to the quality of its product and service.
"Our fleet replacement programme for SAA’s narrow-bodied fleet includes the acquisition of 20 A320 aircraft to replace our Boeing 737-800 aircraft and enhances our fleet to support SAA’s route expansion plans into Africa," he said.
Clyde-Smoth said in keeping with SAA’s initiatives towards weight reduction, products and material on the new A320s are all made of lightweight materials, "adding to the airlines key strategy of being as environmentally-sustainable as possible".
"We have also put a lot of work into making both business class and economy cabins attractive and super comfortable for customers," he said.
The new aircraft configuration is 24 business class and 114 economy class seats with a pitch of 39 inches in business and 31 inches in economy.
All seats (except for the first row) have an innovative special feature: the back shell has space to stow a PC tablet, with a USB power point that keeps a tablet powered during the flight, and PC power points in the centre console for additional laptop computer power.
Ian Jarrett
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