An eagle-eyed planespotter has snapped the first image of South African Airways’’ very first A350 in Singapore today. Emerging from the paint shop in full SAA livery, the new aircraft looks set to join the fleet in a matter of days. It will be deployed on the Johannesburg to New York route, replacing an A340.
The first A350 for South African Airways was spotted in Singapore today in its full SAA colors. While most of the livery remains the same as the rest of the fleet, the A350 appears to have adopted larger ‘billboard’ style titles on the sides. This is a trend we’ve seen in a few airlines this year, notably
United.
This first A350 will be registered ZS-SDC. By the looks of it, it should be ready to deliver to SAA within a matter of days. Some commenters have indicated they expect it to land in South Africa on Thursday, but this is unconfirmed by the airline.
Given its
current financial state, the A350 might seem like a bit of a strange investment for SAA. However, at this stage, the airline is only leasing these aircraft, in a bid to reduce their use of the gas-guzzling A340. This first A350 will replace an A340 on the
Johannesburg to New York JFK service.
There is some conflicting information about exactly how many A350s SAA has signed up to lease. Back in the summer, it was confirmed that
two A350s originally destined for Air Mauritius would be reconfigured for SAA as part of its fleet renewal. The tail fins on these aircraft were already in Air Mauritius colors and will be repainted for SAA.
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