SAAs Airbusses?
 

What is happening about SAAs Airbus order? I heard that the A320 order was cancelled (saving $50million in short term costs) and that the airline was less than happy with the performance of the A340-600 (costing a packet in maintainance costs).

saa airbus
 

well well well

im sure a lot of people will agree "boeing is better",seeing the A340-600 after take off R.O.C out of fajs is proof enough..

keep it up there fellows

no more 406pilot

I thought the only way the 340-600 got any ROC out of JS was due partly to the curvature of the Earth and partly due to slippery French salesmen!
V1:E :E

Now now guys don't pick on those funny looking aeroplanes just cos the are french.

cm

All I know is that as a regular 195cm SLF on A340-200 the seat pitch SUCKS!!! But according to the Sawabona (spelling?) letter from the CEO, they are addressing that issue.

Great airline though!!!:ok:

Mostly due to SAA's crap decision making I would say.

IJ, missed that one. Ditto for the seats that "SUCKS"...on the -600 as well. Crap decision making. Great WHAT??? BTW, how can you you use the words "SUCKS" and "great" in one post about one carrier? As far as I am concerned never change your mind...and you used "SUCKS" before "great".

G'day Bakela,
OK my post might have been a bit contradictory. Probably a result of too many Castle Largers during an afternoon brai.

As a regular o'seas traveller though, I find the cabin crew service to be some of the best I have experienced compared with say QF, BA, SQ, MH etc.
So despite the fact that the seat pitch sucks , I still think they are a great airline. If only they'd use the 747-400 on the Perth runs.

What is the time/speed difference between the 747-400 and the 340-600 on the Perth run?
V1:confused:

Am due to fly on the A340-200 in December. I am not 195cm, so maybe I will be a bit more comfortable than Islander Jock.
The only thing that bothers me with the Bus is that they are so slow. It takes nearly an hour longer from Europe to SA than the B747 does. And the flights are already sooo long............

as far as i know ( i don't fly busses though),the 340s out of joburg mostly keep up with the 747s at around mach.83 or so out to europe at night.

You dont fly jumbos either it seems.
M.83 for the bus is correct, but he is not keeping up with the jumbo which is cruising between M.85 and M.86. It takes Lufthansa 9h50 from JNB to FRA and it takes SAA in the bus nearly 11h15. Not keeping up at all.

Airbus and Boeing flight times
 

Found this interesting, went through my log book and took all the flights that I have done on the 747 classic and later the A340 and looked at the average times on sectors that I have done in both aircraft. Some useless info but maybe it will help.

JNB-FRA B747-300 average times 10.3
A340-600 10.4

JNB-PER B747 8.8
A340-200 9.2

PER-JNB B747 10.5
A340-200 10.8

JNB-ZRH B747 9.9
A340-200 10.6

ZRH-JNB B747 10.3
A340-200 10.5

JNB-HKG B747 13
A340-600 13.2

I wasn't fortunate enough to fly the B747-400, I loved the classic but prefer the Airbus

Non-pilot speaking. On the LHR~JNB route, that I very familiar with, my private log shows that sector times for the VS 340-300s are about 30 mins more than for their 744s.

I have not done the route with other carriers for a while now, so cannot offer comparisons. VS always show that the ex-LHR arrives 30 mins after the 744 and they schedule the JNB departure 30 mins earlier for a Bus. That said, "30 mins" is a nice round figure for folks and it might be +/-.

bytheby
Funny how close those times are. Flying as SLF on the B747-400 JNB-FRA, we are in the air for 9.8hrs and flying in the A340-200/300 JNB-ZRH, it takes 10.6hrs. So logically it would take a little longer to get from JNB to FRA which is about 30 min north of ZRH. This is in the A340-200/300. (depending which airline you use) Of course SAA flies the -600 on this route.

Heard a Syrian B747SP the other day doing M.087 !!! Only the C750 overtakes him!!

Mode 7: Sorry for having hi-jacked your thread like this.
In answer to your original post: The B737-800 is a good aircraft (all those Boing operators cant be wrong) and I wonder if SAA ever thought about the hidden costs of getting all those A320s and replacing the Fluffies. Some slick saleman was at work here. Or maybe somebody got sponsored a Merc or even a nice BMW, like the fiasco for the defence contracts.
Viva Viva

126.7,

How do you make the SP fly at .90? Pull the thrust levers back half an inch!!;)

126,7
 

Direct Great circle track JNB - FRA is 4675nm.

9h50 would mean that the B747's AVERAGE speed = 475KT.
For the A340 to do it in 11h15 it would have to be doing 415KT AVERAGE.

Anyone with a whizz wheel? What does 0.02/3 Mach equate to at F350, -56C??

Hey you guys............ I'll try again!!!!!

I didn't mean it to be a Boeing vs Airbus bash - afterall we all know that Boeing comes out tops everytime!!!:D

Boeing comes out tops every time??/

You should see an A330 out climb a B777.

Give me an airbus any time....................................

May be some one can help me with this. Why is it that I have never heard a AirBus asking if there are any speed restictions for them in the climb, but hear the Boeing ask that regularly??

First to FL430 wins!!!! No contest. Boeing for me over tupperware anytime