SAA takes delivery of new aircraft

Interior of the A320, economy class. (Image: www.flysaa.com

In a statement on Wednesday, SAA said the A320s arrived earlier this month, with another expected in June this year. Aircraft six and seven are expected to arrive in the third quarter, while the eighth aircraft will arrive in the fourth quarter.

"We are very excited about the latest new arrivals in our fleet, which brings our customers the added pleasure of flying on brand new aircraft. Besides the improved on board offering, customers can enjoy their flying experience knowing that they are travelling with a more fuel efficient aircraft and thus part of the airline's commitment to being an environmentally responsible airline," says SAA General Manager Commercial (acting) Kendy Phohleli said.

Two of the A320s entered service last year.

Fleet renewal forms part of the three key pillars of the successful implementation of SAA's new strategy, Gaining Altitude.

The fleet replacement programme for SAA's narrow bodied fleet includes the acquisition of twenty A320 aircraft, which will replace all the Boeing 737-800 aircraft and increase the fleet to support SAA route expansion plans into Africa.

In keeping with the airline's initiatives towards weight reduction, products and material on the new A320's are made of lightweight materials.

The airline said it has put a lot of work into making the business class on the aircraft attractive and comfortable for customers.

The aircraft are configured with 24 business class and 114 economy class seats.

Seating in economy class offers a pitch of 31 inches, with shared USB and PC power points and an adjustable headrest.

All the seats (except for the first row) have an innovative special feature with the back shell having a 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.