Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
May 2007 : Flight Log : SA346
SA346 Cape Town (CPT) - Johannesburg (JNB)
When it came
to planning this sector, the initial temptation was to sample the
service on the remaining major domestic carrier, Comair operating as
British Airways. Then we noticed that SAA had an afternoon flight
operated by a long-haul A340-600, with flat beds in Business Class.
Add to that the geek-factor of experiencing flight 346 on board a
346, and there was no contest
Sorry, BA!
As I settled into 1K, I was
offered a pre-departure glass of sparkling wine. (I could have had
water or orange juice.) There was also a hot towels service prior to
pushback at exactly 1505. I thought the views from the tail-mounted
camera were so cool
Sadly, the images were switched off for the take-off run on Rwy 19,
but were restored upon take-off. The Captain announced that our
routing would be via Bloemfontein and that the expected flight time
was 1hr 40mins.
Cabin service started with drinks and nuts; I had white wine. As a late lunch, I had ravioli and salad, followed by a mug of coffee. Once the tables were cleared, I decided to briefly try out the flat bed. It seemed as though it would be fairly comfortable, but I noted that the problem of extricating yourself from a window seat is certainly not confined to BA's forward / backward configuration.
Flying conditions were smooth, but the skies around Johannesburg were unexpectedly busy and we had to do one circuit in the holding pattern before landing at 1707, again on the most distant runway. We braked fiercely in order to make use of a hard-right exit from the runway, but it was still 1717 before we got to our gate.
Date:
Sun 27 May 2007
Aircraft : A340-600
Scheduled dep : 1505
Actual departure : 1505
Scheduled arrival : 1705
Actual arrival : 1717
Cabin : Business Class
Seat : 1K
