Hi there,
Welcome to the 4th installment of this Series that covers the first leg to Europe.
Thanks to the delayed KQ762, the ground team rebooked me on this SA180 in order to catch KL566 from Nairobi.
The itinerary:
1/ MRS – AMS: Air France, AF1820, Economy: no report
2/ AMS – LHR: KLM, KL1021, EBC (C), B737-700, click here
3/ LHR – NBO: Kenya Airways, Premier World (J), B787-800,click here
4/ NBO – JNB: Kenya Airways, Premier World (J), B787-800, click here
5/ JNB – NBO: Kenya Airways, Premier World (J), You are here
6/ NBO – AMS: KLM, World Business Class (J), coming soon
7/ AMS – MRS: Air France, AF1807, Economy: no report
Yeah, the other basic option suggested the direct KL592 overnight but the primary fear was getting, as a reward of a worthless 12h idle time at JNB, the infamous KLM old J seat on some of 772/77Ws (like in KevinDC's great TR) …
Finally it got delayed by 2h only!
At 1:50 pm, KQ agent informed me about the long walk towards SAA check in counters at the opposite side from where we dealt with the issue. A friendly agent tagged my luggage all the way up to Marseille. As i had left my M&M card at home, later i discovered the hassle of claiming miles from SAA (BP was sent to Flying Blue already), different from most of *A partners…
Premium check in area
Initially a stroll at the nearest observation deck was planned, but the remaining time forced to go airside and discover the Baobab lounge. I must admit it's a very convenient place, much better than The Pride Lounge in Nairobi, and also outpaces BA Galleries located just accross the windows.
Platinum go left, business class pax go right, the fouth lounge visited in Jo'burg!
A glimpse at BA Galleries & First Class Lounge
The light choice ( food area is self service while it is a staffed bar)
At gate A08, a A320 waited for the crowd, i was glad because 738 with an old 2-3 config are often seen elsewhere in Africa.
ZS – SZF – 16 months old
Since March 2014, SAA A320 have Priestmangoode design cabin. Nice colors!
No PDB, but as soon as slides were armed, the crew handed over a bottle of still water and offered newspapers.
24 premium seats
Pillows softer (and bigger) than KQ ones
The good crew sprang into action and distributed a warm towel, a food and drink menus and treated us immediately with plate of gorgeous cold canapés.
JNB
Probably not noise cancelling, but somewhat ok!
=> Menu ( translated in French too)
As fine as some well known champagne brands
They consisted of fish, beef and cheese, lovely!
For the starter, the purser let the passenger select his preference, as she carried around trays of both choices – SAA can not go wrong that way!
Event though, they patrolled regularly the cabin to top up glasses or assist passengers, i found the service was rushed.
Juicy and firm texture, on the left a piece garlic bread quite starchy tho
Once the hors d'oeuvre plate was cleared, i got my main course order taken!
Far from reaching half of the knowledges of a wine connoisseur, she made me taste both!
Visually, not exactly what was expected, especially after KQ's fabulous lamb rack on LHR – NBO leg
Cooked perfectly, but it definitely lacked of flavours and herbs!
Always a kind gesture to sample new chocolates, too bad i was still chewing on my lamb … :-(
These first mini bottles probably froze over as the sweet nectar thickened and became impossible to pour. It got replaced very quickly with sincere apologies
The last 2hr were spent on reading and listening some music from a Zambian artist… ;-) :
The forward galley curtain remained open during the entire flight duration, the best way to focus on customer service?
After landing slightly behind schedule, 2 buses drove passengers to the Arrivals hall ( most of them) or the main departure terminal for a onward journey (only a handful of people including me) via the security checks of T1A.
Should not we be parked the other way round… ;-) ?
Notice the sticker Nelson Mandela Day on the fuselage
Thanks for this flight report!
The new cabin on the A320 looks a lot better than the sad, old 2-3 configuration I flew last year on JNB-CPT. The seats are interesting.. at first glance, they look rather similar to a current-generation slimline economy seat... but then there's a decent console between the seats, and a good legrest/cradle system. They look good, though, for a narrowbody premium cabin seat.
Although it sounds like the lamb was a bit of a disappointment, I'm impressed by the catering on a narrowbody C flight, although I'd guess that NBO would be a premium destination for SA, if they have such a designation.
Thanks for the comments Hometoyyz,
On a domestic leg the best way to go is the 4 holer... ;-)
Overall, SA catering beats KQ's Servair catering from NBO!
Wow, great report. Looked like a nice onboard service overall. I have a SAA A320 business class itinerary coming up and this makes me look forward to it. Out of curiosity, is the Baobab lounge the main lounge for SAA business pax? If there are others, I'd assume Baobab is the nicest?
Thanks Nick for your feedback
Lucky you! what will be the routing?
If you arrive at JNB in J/C, don't forget to check SAA Arrivals lounge, i saw the signs after the customs but obviously could not enter!
TBH with you it looks like the platinum entry leads left to another section reserved exclusively for the most loyal pax, but i'm not 100% sure ( please correct me if i'm wrong), since after the reception one has to walk right a bit further into the corridor to discover the massive business class section!
Of course if you fly domestic that will be a different lounge
Thanks for sharing this great report! in a way, it's kind of cool that your flight was cancelled and that you were rebooked on SAA to try a different product. Wow, I'm really surprised that an A320 has 6 rows of Business class! In the U.S. there's usually only 3 or 4 rows of Premium cabin. These new seats look really nice and certainly better than the previous weird 2-3 configuration on narrowbodies.
How interesting that the menu on JNB-NBO, between two English speaking countries was translated into French. They must have known they had a Frenchman onboard :-) Very impressed with the choice of 3 appetizers! I just flew CX Regional and there were no choices on appetizers. Catering looks really good overall, although the main is not terribly attractive.
Thanks for sharing and see you on the next one!
Thank you KevinDC
Indeed, the rebooking was the best thing that could have happened on this day!
Good to know about the premium cabin in the US!
How long lasted your flight on CX?
i presume that the 3rd appetizer choice is the salad visible on the tray :-)
Thank you for sharing this FR with us!
The A320 cabins on SA look so much better than those 3-2 business class cabins they used to use. The cabin looks really good visually, but the obvious flaw is the lack of a personal IFE. However, for a 5-hour flight, you can’t even compare these seats to what KQ offers. For a shorter flight, this looks like a very nice regional product.
SA’s catering looks very strong; getting to select your appetizer is very rare. Four choices of main on a regional flight is also very impressive. Issues I see are the lack of linens and the use of trays (looks like it is covered by a piece of paper?). Presentation of the dishes didn’t look the greatest, but there didn’t seem to be any shortage of food (and drinks) on this flight.
Having already flown the KQ B788s, it was at least a nice opportunity to unexpectedly try a new product!
Many thanks for another extensive comment NGO85
However, for a 5-hour flight, you can’t even compare these seats to what KQ offers. For a shorter flight, this looks like a very nice regional product. JNB-NBO is a 4h flight maximum (there is 1h time difference), also i think that A320 are sent to all continental destinations, sometimes SAA schedule the B737 for neighbouring countries. Surprinsigly the A330 is a regular visitor to Harare - Zimbabwe.
Issues I see are the lack of linens and the use of trays (looks like it is covered by a piece of paper?) => You are absolutely right to notice this, you are an expert of premium cabins
Presentation of the dishes didn’t look the greatest, but there didn’t seem to be any shortage of food (and drinks) on this flight. => i do agree especially after accommodating last minute passengers