Question: The SAA flights out of JFK use A340-300 aircraft and are non-stop, the flights out of Dulles use A340-600 aircraft and stop in Dakar. The A340-600 is larger but is also listed as having a longer range (7500 nautical miles versus the A340-300 at 6700 nautical miles). So why the non-stop on the 300 and the one-stop on the 600? Anybody know?

I have flown SAA from Dulles. It was nonstop going, but stopped to fuel on return.

Mjines,

Up until a while before SAA left Atlanta they flew 747-400 a/c with a range of about 8,500nm, which is about 50nm or so less than the distance to JNB. The reason this was possible was the wind in the northern hemisphere is almost always out of the west and once past the equator the direction is more southerly. So the answer is tailwinds going and headwinds returning. Do yourself and your family a favor and avoid the scarebus and SAA. JMO

Adrian

Flew out of JFK this Sept.
Was a great flight , not crowded , cheaper than Dulles . we had a whole row of seats outbound and inbound.
used Esplanade Tours to book the trip, was also hassle free.

There is very little difference between the two aircraft - check out the links below to the seating maps of each.

http://www.seatguru.com/airlin..._Airbus_A340-300.php

http://www.seatguru.com/airlin..._Airbus_A340-600.php

Best thing about the JFK flight is it is non-stop on the way to Johannesburg. Return flight does refuel in Dakar. Both outbound and inbound flights out of Dulles refuel in Dakar.

Hope this helps.