The Travelling Dassie: South African Airways Economy Airbus A340-600

Route

SA261, Frankfurt to Johannesburg, 01 October 2012.

Duration

10 hours 45 min.

On time departure and arrival

Departed on time.
Arrived about 20 minutes early.

Ground crew and check-in

We were able to check in online 24 hours before departure.
We arrived by long distance train but could not drop off our luggage at the AlRail Terminal at Frankfurt airport. We needed to drop our luggage at the SAA counters.
Our printed online boarding passes served as boarding tickets.
Ground staff was friendly and helpful.

Boarding procedure

Business class passengers and selected Frequent Flyers (Voyager Gold, Platinum, and Lifetime members, Star Alliance Gold) have priority boarding.
The crew asked passengers to board by row number, but most passengers ignored it. Boarding was a bit disorganised.
The electronic boarding gates, where you scan the barcode on your ticket to open the gate, were not in use
We boarded via a mobile bridge.

Luggage allowance

Hand luggage - One carry on bag 8kg max
Checked luggage - One bag not exceeding 23kg. SAA is now using the Piece Concept for checked luggage.

Seating

Number of seats - 275 recliner seats. Seats against the bulkhead has the same recline as standard seats.
We were not sure about the bulkhead seats, as there are conflicting information available. We sat in the row 71, and I checked the recline of seats in row 74 and they had normal recline.

View more information at Seatguru and SAA

There were adequate locker space in row 71 D - G

Amenities

We did not get any amenity bags ( with socks, slumber shades etc), although we did get amenity bags on previous SA261 flights.
Small pillow and blanket
Stereo headset

Entertainment

Personal touchscreen monitor with remote control. The entertainment system did not function. SAA needs to attend to this issue, this is not the first time on this route that the entertainment system did not work.
In-flight magazine available in seat pocket.

In-flight communication

Satellite phone

Meals and refreshments

Dinner
A choice of Pork with vegetables or Chicken with pasta was offered.
On the tray - Salad, whole-wheat bun, dessert, chocolate, butter, cheese, crackers, cutlery, wet wipe and serviette.
Cup for coffee/tea
I had the pork and it was very tasty and the meat was tender. My travel partner had the delicious chicken and pasta.

Breakfast

Hot breakfast was served. We were not very hungry and skipped breakfast.

Refreshments

Drinks and alcoholic beverages 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.
Soap were provided.
Paper towels and tissues
Basin to wash hands and brush teeth

In-flight shopping

Available.

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 took a short bus ride to the terminal building.

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.
Milk were served from a jug, so you can add enough in your coffee or tea.
The food was enough and tasty.
The plane was quiet with not too many rattles and noise

Not so good
The Entertainment system not functioning.