Review - South African Airways Business Class A330-300 Johannesburg to São Paulo Guarulhos
SA222 JNB-GRU
December 30th, 2024
Posts in this series:
Introduction - From Camp’s Bay to Copacabana
Review - Mont Rochelle Hotel and VIneyard
Review - The Plettenburg, an SLH Hotel
Review - InterContinental Johannesburg O.R.Tambo Airport
Review - South African Airways Business Class A330-300 Johannesburg to São Paulo Guarulhos
Review - Rosewood São Paulo
Review - GOL Airlines Conforto B737-800 São Paulo Congonhas to Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont
Review - Copacabana Palace, A Belmond Hotel, Rio de Janeiro
Check-in:
We spent our overnight layover at the InterContinental Johannesburg Airport and walked over to the terminal for our flight to Brazil. You can’t beat the convenience of an airport hotel connected to the terminal. However, don’t think you can just waltz in to the airport right before departure, because the employees at O.R. Tambo will evoke your yearning for the TSA. Inefficiency aside, the attitude, girl, the attitude. I’m pretty sure the stereotype of an “African bureaucrat on a power trip” originated from this very airport.
South African Airways (SAA) used to be a much more substantial airline, with destinations spanning from Beijing to Washington and everything in between. Since the pandemic, it shrank significantly - retired its A340-600s and sold its A350-900s. SAA was losing money way before that though. Nowadays, SAA is on less shaky financial ground and is trying to regrow into its former self.
We first found South African Airways’ premium check-in area, or so we thought.
There was a bit of a queue there, so we waited for about 15 minutes. Once it was our turn, we were told the São Paulo flight had a separate check-in located on a different aisle. It is what it is.
What frustrated me was there was no priority security or passport control, which was exacerbated by how inefficient everything was. So no, I did NOT FUCH with Joburg Airport.
Lounge:
By the time we made it past all the formalities, it was well over an hour later. Unfortunately, we did not have time to visit the lounge. Based on the reviews online, though, we didn’t seem to have missed much.
Boarding:
Boarding commenced 20 minutes behind schedule. There was yet another document check, which seemingly took another eternity. I spotted the Air China A350 bound for Shenzhen in the distance.
And here was our bird for the southernly Atlantic crossing.
Upon boarding, I was greeted by the FAs at the door. Business class had a light load with maybe half of the seats taken. We were originally seated in the rear business cabin. Shortly after we sat down, the purser came by and promised (wink wink) us that we would get better service if we moved to the front cabin. It was a bulkhead for bulkhead swap situation, so we obliged.
At first glance, the cabin looked quite nice. SAA went with the Thomspon VantageXL seats for the retrofit. This is a somewhat popular product found on airlines like Philippine Airlines, Qantas and SAS. I do find the earthy tones fitting for an African airline.
The legroom for the bulkhead seats was beyond generous. However, I did find the seats to be positioned extremely low. I felt like I was sleeping on the floor when it’s fully reclined.
For comparison, here is the legroom in a non-bulkhead seat.
I’m not sure when the retrofit was completed, but these seats have already seen some days.
During boarding, I perused the menu for the day, which reads as follows:





For whatever reason, there was no wine list - expect mostly South African wines, while champagne was Moët. Frankly, I would have preferred a MCC sparking, but nobody asked me. A welcome drink was served. We went with champagne and orange juice. The side of biltong was delicious. OMG I just remembered the biltong I had in this brewery (I know, but you can only drink so much wine) in Franschhoek. It was coated in like honey or like a syrup and had like chili flakes on it, and it was so yummy. Anyway…
Soon enough we were ready for pushback. I switched to an empty window seat for takeoff.
Inflight:
Service was very slow to get started. We got a hot towel once we leveled off, though it was an hour and some change until we received the next thing. It wasn’t a big deal on this westbound daytime flight, but I sure would hope for more expedient service in the other direction.
I browsed the onboard IFE system, which was only turned on after takeoff. There were 85 movies in total, along with some pretty random options like the David Rubenstein show on Bloomberg…
Eventually the trolley carts were rolled down the aisle, a universal signal of thrilling festivities. Lunch started with a shrimp amuse-bouche.
I was then offered a choice of beverage. I asked for a South African white and was presented with the Marklew sauvignon blanc. For a sub $10 bottle, it was not offensive.
An aperitivo was not on the agenda today. While I’d like to shame them for that, I reminded myself Etihad also doesn’t serve apéritif in business class.
Moving on, the appetizer came with the tray. I chose the pumpkin soup.
Allegedly we got some salt from the Kalahari Desert.
For my main, I went with the “several colours”, described as shredded lamb with lamb jus, creamy pap, pickled beetroot, creamy spinach and chakalaka mayo.
My partner went for the coconut fish and prawn curry with steamed basmati rice, sautéed green beans, grilled butternut batons and toasted coconut shavings.
Lastly, I ordered the banana and caramel cake.
To accompany that was a creamy cappuccino. The FA warned me that it was extremely sweet, and she did not lie.
I thought the meal service was passable. Everything was served from the trolley. That aside, the quality was about average.
I spent the next several hours napping, albeit with moderate success. While it comes down to personal preferences, the bedding was too hard for my liking, especially the pillow.
Prior to making landfall in Brazil, a pre-arrival meal was served. The options were either a power bowl or a spicy chicken tortilla wrap. Unlike on most northern transatlantic flights, SAA served an appetizer with the pre-landing meal. I had the grilled tuna slices, which was okay.
The main course was meh.
Is that… Godzilla..?
On Arrival:
We touched down right on schedule and parked next to a LATAM B777. So what do I think about South African Airways? Honestly, I flew it for the novelty of it, and it’s about what I expected. It fits perfectly in the “it’s fine” category of airlines. I paid around $1,200 for this one-way business class ticket, and the value is quite competitive. I’ve actually seen it priced under $1,000 before. The fare is a bit higher on LATAM, although not by a big margin. SAA hasn’t resumed flights to the US yet, but I think I’d prefer United or Delta anyway.