BA 737 In South Africa???
 

I figured this would be the thread to post this, but feel free to move it if it isn't.

I was in JNB last week and noticed what appeared to be a BA 737 taking off and landing at JNB. The plane seemed to keep coming back like every 15-30 mins. Does BA have 737s in South Africa? Is this just a pilot training or did they maybe sell the plane to a carrier in South Africa who hasn't repainted it? It appeared to be a 737-500 (I think, could have been a 300 or 400 too)......Just kind of curious what a BA single aisle plane would be doing so far from home.

Comair of South Africa is a BA franchise partner flying dometic and african network in BA colours/unforms/on board product
You will have seen a number of movements of different frames rather than a single frame going round in circles, quite an extensive network there

If you search Comair you will find nmerous threads with much more detail

Wow, thank you for the reply. Sorry if it was a dumb topic but from the observation deck at JNB there was a number of them taking off and landing and disappearing somewhere on the domestic terminals concourse where I couldn't see it park. Lots of interesting planes in JNB, I was impressed.

You will find most of your information under the following: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comair_(South_Africa)

Comair operates as British Airways South Africa and only uses 737's. It operates very frequent routes across South Africa, including CPT and DUR. BA, together with SAA makes up the only two non-low-cost domestic carriers in South Africa. (1T, MN and JE making up the 3 low-cost carriers)

Due to the frequency of flights it is most probably various different aircraft and not one single aircarft doing fly-by's .

As an interesting side note, Diners Club in SA gives you the option of either accruing miles by spending through BA or SA, your choice!

Have a look at my planespotting thread with pics of aircraft at JNB. It should give you a clearer impression! :D

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...-aircraft.html

Not a dumb topic at all. I find it strange (but lucky) that BA has such an extensive network in southern Africa. It's not only domestic SA flights but also flights from JNB to Namibia and Zambia and other countries.

If you have the opportunity do try a BA/Comair flight, especially in Club. You get access to SLOW lounges (domestic SA) and excellent service onboard.

+1

The SLOW lounges are widely accepted to be of a higher standard than the 'usual' BA Terraces lounge, and the service on-board is exceptional.

@the OP FYI: they also have two 737-200's dating from, I believe, around 1989 when they were engaged in UK-based service with BA. I have flown on each of these aircraft once and found them to be more than acceptable. However my understanding is that the majority of their fleet now is of newer aircraft.

Neat pics, looks exactly like what I saw last week! I was at JNB at the plane spotting area from like 2pm to 4pm and then headed to the AF Lounge on my way back on DL 201 JNB-ATL. I was amazed at all the 737 classics (737-200s) that were flying in Africa. Seemed like every few planes that would takeoff were a 200. South African Airways has quite a few newer planes and I got to see a *A A340 and a *A 737-800. I didn't notice the names of the colorful planes but now I see one was Mango! Interesting designs. I really liked Ethiopians livery, simple but good! Always fun plane spotting and seeing new things before a long trip back to the states!

Hi. Going to Livingston ex JNB soon. Upgrade offer of only 32 pounds on 747 400. Row one any good?

A 747 from JNB to Livingstone. Now that really would be worth bumping an 8 year old thread for.....

Ooops..... equipment change...😂..let's call it a piggy jet of 400 series.. 😋..but I do wanna know if this 1 is ok..seat map just looks odd..2-3 and layout kinda reminds me of Gatwick 320s at row 1.

It's been a few years since I was there, but last I saw they were using the old-style convertible CE seats that go from 3-3 to 2-3 (with A,C,D,E,F widened and B compressed). In CE they eventually stopped selling the E seat (and then eventually did away with the convertible seating), but I think Comair still sells all five seats, or at least they did a few years ago. I found the service on a flight JNB-VFA to be quite lovely, sort of a throwback to the times when Club Europe was actually nice. Fine South African wines and a really good fish!

As to the original question about row 1, I prefer it on these types of aircraft.

Yes that is right last time I used Comair (2017). The old converter seats although those planes are quite rare now.

The service is good, like BA was 10-15 years ago. A handy way to pick up the compulsory BA flights for status purposes.

Ha! A handy way to pick up the compulsory qualifying flights if you happen to be in South Africa! :)

Just as a data point, we flew JNB-CPT and CPT-JNB in J in April.

Outbound was very comfortable in 2-3 fixed seating. Inbound was the 3-3 converter seats. So it seems that both arrangements are in use. I can't remember now whether those layouts were available when booking or in MMB. We chose window and aisle anyway.