the story of South African Airways is quite a remarkable one. From an apartheid airline that was banned from using African airspace, to a shining example of a successful African business, to becoming a text-wasting failure to eventually stopped all operations by the end of 2020. After 18 months long break, the springbok found its wings again and started domestic flights. Later, they extended their Network and added more African destinations. Just recently, they announced to continue flights to South America, a massive step towards a brighter future. So, I took a trip on South African Airways to see how they're doing these days. [Music] Thank you. Today, prior I took a trip on airlink, which was a total disaster, from root check-in staff to Lazy cabin crew, and an absolute filthy airplane that took me all the way to Cape Town. I was rather disappointed. Well, my previous trip on South African Airways in 2019 from Washington DC to Johannesburg was absolutely amazing. And until today, I remember the great cheesecake they served on that flight. So, I was very

Curious to see what they have in store for me today. Our trip starts at Cape Town International Airport, which is the second busiest in South Africa with 9 million passengers a year. And here we are, let's fly South African Airways back to Johannesburg. Hi, good morning. How are you? Thank you. Have a good day. So all checked in, let's go and check out the lounge. South African Airways is operating its own lounge at Cape Town airport, and unlike Airlink, there is no time limit to use it. Since it was a morning flight, the airline is offering all sorts of cold platter bones, bread, as well as cheese. There's also a hot breakfast buffet as well as proper coffee. My favorite though was definitely the view from the lounge, the ideal place for aviation and plane spotters. Overall, I was very happy with the lounge experience. So now let's have a look at today's plane, which is going to take us back to Joburg. And there's our Airbus A230-300. South Africa's flag carrier is currently operating two wide-body planes.

Airbus A340. And this one, the fleet is completed by four more Airbus A220s. And with the expansion of their Network again, we might see some more planes join the fleet. But now let's head to the gate and board this flight to Joburg. Hey, how are you? Okay, thank you. Hi, how are you? That's awesome, thank you. And here we are, welcome aboard the new and reborn South African flag carrier. With 38 seats in a one-to-one staggered configuration, 203 seats complete the economy class cabin. So guys, here we are, welcome aboard South African Airlines Airbus A330-300, the only wide-body that they have in their fleet at the moment, mostly operated to Lagos and Accra and Ghana. Lovely welcome at the door. However, the first thing you notice is the very intense and disgusting smell of urine. I don't know what happened, maybe there's something wrong with the loo, but it smells really, really gross, which is a bit unpleasant. However, a great product, hard product for a domestic flight.

you can obviously tell by the scratches and by the stains that it's a little bit dated. Um, but uh, yeah, let me give you also um a quick little seat intro. The seats are pretty run down. You can see that the interior didn't receive a lot of love recently, and even though it's a rather modern seat, it feels quite outdated. Also, the in-flight entertainment consisted of just four movies, which isn't really anywhere near any standards. So I hope in the near future that the airline can improve this. Park devices one should be used in flight mode. We then push back forward to our flight to Johannesburg, and I was very much looking forward to see what the airline has in store for its business class passengers on this particular flight. [Music] Hospitality [Music] [Music] Um, yeah, I have some do some water management. Yeah, that's boring. Oh, yeah, I'm good. Thank you very much. Yeah, next time. Nice. Okay, thank you very much. Yes, please. Beautiful. Thank you. So we are a good half an hour into the

flight uh there is a snack service on the service to Johannesburg. I had a choice between uh beef and a vegetarian option. So um there's also alcohol served on the short domestic hop, but now let's see what those uh beef wraps taste like. The food was absolutely delicious, and I was quite impressed by the service as well, a lot better than my airlink flight the day before where the crew just did the bare minimum and disappeared into the galley for most of the flight. I was also served a lovely coffee and enjoyed the stunning views over South Africa, but it was then time pretty Infamous Lou review, and of course a lure review here on the Airbus A330, um yeah, nothing special. I just in case you've been wondering what it looks like, yeah, it's been a good flight so far. Crew is really lovely, hard-working, they're passionate, they do really seem uh to enjoy being here. I mean South African Airways has always been an airline on life support, they have to work with what they have and uh it's looking good.

I'm pretty satisfied with the product. A lot better than airlink yesterday, to be honest. So, uh, yeah. But, uh, yeah, I'm starting descending very soon. And then, once we are on the ground, I'm going to give you a full summary of my experience here today on South African Airways. We then started our descent into Johannesburg. And now is perhaps a great time to check out my Patreon page to access some extra perks, such as access to my WhatsApp group, early access to my videos, get your Cahill keyring, or have your name in the credits. Check out the link in the description box below. Elsa, I'd appreciate if you could subscribe to my channel for more Aviation content. Thanks a lot. [Music] Yes, questions? [Music] So, guys, here we are at the Protea Airport Hotel with do we have an airport view. Look at this Airbus A380 Emirates just leaving. Um, how was my experience today on South African Airways? Loved it. Great flight. Uh, in terms of the crew, crew was very proactive. They're very kind. Everyone was

in a great mood lofted hard product is aging. The smell was really bad during boarding as well, and I think this is something South African Airways has to work on upgrading their Fleet. But I can't imagine the struggle that they go through, that they have other priorities, but it was really just great to see that the crew is like motivated. They're feeling good and uh they're trying really their very best to create a good experience for their passengers. So overall, I really hope that they're going to succeed this time and that they spread their wings all over the world again because back in the days, it was the greatest airline in Africa, and they do have the potential to be the best on the continent without a doubt, you know. So very much looking forward how this is developing um over the next couple of months. This is it. I am having one night here in uh South Africa here in Johannesburg, and then I'll be heading to Istanbul. So I'll be flying Turkish Airlines after a long, long time again, so let's see how they

are doing in 2023. And then I'll be flying, uh, back to Sri Lanka. Finally, one month of traveling. All right, this is it, guys. Um, if you want to support my work, uh, join my WhatsApp group, have early access to my videos, get your Cahill keyring, and many other perks. Check out my Patreon, uh, page. Link is in the description box below. Um, and let me know in the comment section below what you think. Is South African Airways here to stay, or will it be another belly landing? We'll find out. Let me know in the comment section below. All right, guys, wherever you off to, have a safe trip. [Music] [Music]

TROUBLED SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS IS BACK!

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