South African Airways Economy Airbus A340-600

Route

SA260 Johannesburg to Frankfurt 07 July 2012

Duration

10 hours 45 min

On time departure and Arrival

Departed and arrived on time

Ground Crew and check-in

Online check-in 24 hours before departure.
There were dedicated drop off counters at Johannesburg International airport
Ground staff was not over friendly but competent.

Boarding procedure

Business class passengers and selected Frequent Flyers (Voyager Gold, Platinum, and Lifetime members, Star Alliance Gold) have priority boarding.
Passengers with small children and assisted passengers
Economy class passengers

Luggage allowance

Hand luggage - One carry on bag 8kg max
Checked luggage - 23kg

Seating

Number of seats - 275 recliner seats. Seats against the bulkhead can have limited recline
View the seat maps on  SeatGuru or on South African Airways A340-600
Seat pitch - 85cm (33.5")
Seat width - 43.18cm (17")

Amenities

Bag with socks, slumber shades, toothbrush and toothpaste
Small pillow and blanket
Stereo headset

Entertainment

Personal touchscreen monitor with remote control. I was not very impressed with the entertainment system, to scroll to the program you want to watch takes too long. The touchscreen had a delay. The system had to be rebooted as some passenger's screens/systems did not work. This took about 30 minutes and you had to again find your program, and forward to where it stopped. This also happened on previous SAA flights I have taken. 
The selection of programs was adequate and up to date with the latest movies and music. 

In-flight communication

Satellite phone

Meals and refreshments

Dinner
A choice of beef stew, chicken and vegetarian (Brinjal curry)
On the tray - Salad, whole-wheat bun, eclairs for dessert, chocolate, butter, cutlery, wet wipe and serviette. Cup for coffee/tea
I had the beef stew, it was tasty and the meat was tender. My travel partner had the Brinjal curry and noted that there were not enough brinjals in the curry and the rice was bland
Breakfast
Hot breakfast was served.
On the tray - Fruit salad, yoghurt, whole-wheat bun, butter, cutlery, wet wipe and serviette. Cup for coffee/tea
Refreshments
Drinks were served before and after meals. Coffee/tea was only served after meals. Water was available in small bottles and were served at regular intervals

Toilets

The toilets were kept clean although the dustbin needs to be cleaned a bit more often. 
Soap, Body Lotion as well as face wash were provided.
Paper towels and tissues
Basin to wash hands and brush teeth

In-flight shopping

In-flight shopping was available after dinner, with a good choice perfumes, jewelry etc.

Travelling with Children

Some of the toilets have diaper boards. Baby bassinets must be pre booked. Meal request for children must be made at time of reservation
Milk and baby food can be warmed up by the cabin crew
Read more on South African Airways - Travelling with Infants

Crew

I found the crew competent and friendly.

Disembarking

Business class disembarked first. We had to wait for ground crew to attach the passenger bridge, after that disembarking went smooth and fast

Overall opinion

What I liked
The seats were comfortable with enough leg room. The recline was adequate for economy seats. I never felt the reclined seat in front of me was too close.
Water in bottles that you can keep with you during the flight.
The plane was quiet with not too many rattles and noise

Not so good
The vegetarian meal was not up to standard.
Entertainment system is clumsy and had to be reset