SAA Orange Tail

1960 saw the arrival of the Boeing 707 Intercontinental jet aircraft, the aircraft heralded new dimensions of speed, range and comfort, accommodating over 150 passengers depending on the configuration.

On the first of October 1960 SAA introduced the Boeing 707 on the Springbok Service to the UK. This reduced the journey to an actual flying time of around 13 hours.

The Boeing 707 also brought in the new airline colours, the main difference was the orange tail with a blue and white flash, when repainting was required the other aircraft in the fleet were all converted to the new orange tails. SAA introduced the airliner into service in October 1960 in a mixed first class / economy class configuration carrying a total of 139. When the 707 replaced the DC-7B aircraft on the Australian service the Cocos Islands stop was dropped and the flight terminated in Sydney.

The B707 inaugurated the service to the Americas in February 1969 flying from Johannesburg-Rio de Janeiro–New York.

In 1963 most African states opposed to the previous government’s policy, denied SAA over-flying rights above their countries forcing the airline to fly a long detour around the bulge of West Africa.

- In 1965 Boeing 727 jetliners were introduced on regional and internal services, and in 1968 Boeing 737 airliners were introduced to supplement the 727 fleet. By 1967 some of the old stalwart aircraft of the airline, such as the Skymasters, Constellations and DC-7Bs, were retired.

- The 1960’s saw great expansion of the airline, faster aircraft could carry more passengers further. During the 1968/1969 financial year SAA carried more than 1 million passengers.

Tragedy struck SAA in the same decade: * In March 1962 a Dakota crashed in the Katberg Mountains killing two pilots. * In March 1967 a Viscount crashed into the sea near Kayser’s Beach near East London killing all twenty-five souls onboard. * In April 1968 a brand new Boeing 707 crashed after taking off from Windhoek, one hundred and twenty-three perishing in the disaster that left only five survivors.

By the end of the decade the airline operated a fleet of 29 aircraft consisting of: * Eight Boeing 707s, * Seven Boeing 727’s, * Three Boeing 737s, * Seven Vickers Viscounts and * Three Dakotas.

During 1970 SAA exceeded the 1 Million mark for passengers carried on the domestic services. In September 1970 the last scheduled piston-engine flight was operated by a Dakota aircraft, the type had been in service since 1946, Hawker Siddeley 748 turbo-prop aircraft replaced the Dakotas from 1970, and the last Dakota left SAA in February 1971.

On 6 November 1971 Boeing 747 ZS-SAN Lebombo arrived at Johannesburg on its delivery flight. The huge wide-body airliner attracted the nickname of “Jumbo Jet” and “Lebombo” was the first of 30 B747s to be operated by the airline. The early model 747 aircraft were fondly known as “747 Classic”. The Jumbos were introduced on the Springbok Service in December 1971 and proved to be very popular with the travelling public, in-flight entertainment in the form of movies were provided for passengers during the long flight to Europe. - As more 747s entered service taking over some of the Boeing 707 routes some of aircraft were converted to passenger/cargo configuration and used on low-density routes while others were converted to high-density seating and used on the internal services.

With the arrival of the HS 748 and the remaining B737 aircraft, the Vickers Viscounts were withdrawn from service and sold to British Midland Airways, the last Viscount had left South Africa by March 1972.

In May 1972 one of the B727 aircraft was hi-jacked on a flight from Salisbury (Harare) to Johannesburg. The ordeal was finally concluded when Malawi’s militia opened fire on aircraft at Blantyre Airport, at the time the only persons onboard were the two hi-jackers counting ransom money, when the firing started they promptly surrendered. The airliner was damaged by gunfire but was repaired and returned to service. The crew on this aircraft were:

* Capt – Blake Flemington * F/O – Archie Schultz * FEO – Bert Cheetham Chief Flight Steward – Dirkie Nel Senior Flight Steward  - Joppie Nieman

Junior Flight Steward – Lance Gwyther

Air Hostess – Talana (Nel) Joubert

Air Hostess – Thea (Van Rensburg) Combrinck

1974 – SAA FLIES TO HONG KONG: - In June 1974 Boeing 707 aircraft inaugurated a service to Hong Kong with an en-route stop at the Seychelles Islands.

Internal services were again upgraded by the introduction of wide-body Airbus A300 airliners and operated mainly on the Cape Town and Durban routes in 1976. The Airbus carried 260 passengers in a mixed business/economy class configuration.

In 1976 Boeing 747SP aircraft were introduced and to demonstrate its very long-range capability the first aircraft was flown non-stop from the Boeing Company factory in Seattle to Cape Town during its delivery flight. This was a world record for an un-refuelled commercial aircraft, the record was held for over a decade. B747SPs were gradually introduced on B707 routes as well as increasing frequency on other services. One of the Boeing 707 aircraft was converted into a freighter and usually operated from Johannesburg to Paris.

By the end of the decade SAA operated a fleet of 36 aircraft comprising of: * Eleven Boeing 747s, * Nine Boeing 727s,

* Three Boeing 707s,

* Six Boeing 737s,

* Four Airbus A300s

* Three Hawker Siddeley 748.

In 1980 a new service to Taipei, Taiwan was introduced using B747SP airliners and at the same time the stop at Seychelles Islands was dropped in favour of Mauritius on the Hong Kong service.

Two new 747 Combi aircraft were delivered in 1980, these aircraft differed from other 747’s by having a cargo compartment at the rear half of the main deck. The aircraft were used on destinations with high cargo demand and lower passenger numbers.

The venerable B707 operated its last scheduled SAA service from Paris to Johannesburg on the 26 December 1980; the type had been in service for over 20 years, and soon after the remaining 707s were sold.

More Boeing 737 and Airbus A300 airliners began entering SAA service towards the end of 1981 to replace B707 and B727 aircraft. By 1983 all the 727s were sold.

Two more B747 airliners were delivered in 1983, these airliners differed from the earlier models by having the upper deck compartment stretched to accommodate more passengers, the more powerful and fuel efficient engines enabled the aircraft to fly from Johannesburg to Europe non-stop. The older 747s were also modified with the more powerful engines enabling them to fly to Europe non-stop.

When certain countries began withdrawing landing rights, SAA leased or sold some of its aircraft to Canada, Mauritius, Brazil and Morocco. Aircrews were also leased out to other operators or offered pensions.

Tragedy struck the airline when B747 Combi ZS-SAS Helderberg crashed into the Indian Ocean near the island of Mauritius in November 1987; the airliner suffered an uncontrollable fire in main deck cargo compartment, all 159 persons perished.

The first of eight Boeing 747-400 airliners was delivered in January 1991, the airliner was fitted with glass cockpits and the main distinguishing feature was winglets fitted to each wing tip. Fuel efficient and more powerful Rolls Royce engines were fitted, an increased fuel capacity gave the aircraft greater range to fly non-stop from the East Coast of America to South Africa.

As sanctions were eased SAA was allowed to fly over the East Coast of Africa. SAA began taking delivery of Airbus A320 aircraft for use on the internal and regional services.

In 1991 South African Express airlines was granted a license to operate domestically in South Africa, SAA was a 10% shareholder. The airline would be a feeder service operator and take over some of SAA’s low-density internal routes.

The first of three Boeing 767 wide-body twinjets were delivered to SAA in August 1993, the smaller wide body airliner was used to fly to the Middle East, Africa and Southern European destinations, SAA operated the type for 10 years.

Towards the turn of the millennium fairly rapid growth was experienced, particularly on services to Africa as well as fleet modernisation of the long haul fleet. An Alliance was formed between SAA, SA Express and SA Airlink in February 1997.

In November 1999 SAir Group – the holding company of Swissair bought a 20% share in SAA for R1.4 billion. In July 2000 the first New Generation Boeing 737-800 was delivered, twenty-one of the type were ordered to replace both the Airbus A300 and A320 aircraft. By March 2002 all of SAA’s Airbus aircraft had left South African skies. In November 2001 Transnet bought back ailing SAir Group’s share in SAA.

SAA bought a 49% share in Air Tanzania Limited in July 2002; the new outfit was launched in April 2003. In the fleet modernisation programme Airbus A340 aircraft would replace both the B747 classic and B767 aircraft and Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft would replace the Boeing 737 and later 737-800 airliners. The first Airbus A340-642 was delivered in January 2003, to speed up the re-equipment A330 and A340-200 airliners were leased from European operators. The first A340-642 service was operated to Hong Kong in February 2003 replacing the B747 Classic on the route. As more Airbus aircraft arrived the old Classics were sold, returned to the leasing companies or reduced to scrap at Johannesburg International Airport in early 2004.