Qantas Announces Upgrade

The Qantas Group has announced that it will upgrade its entire fleet of Airbus A330s and order new Boeing 737-800s to drive its strategy in the international and domestic markets. Beginning in late 2014, the group will reconfigure the interior of 10 Airbus A330-300s and 20 A330-200s with a new flat seat in Business Class, refreshed Economy cabin and a new inflight entertainment offering. The A330-300s will be operated by Qantas International on its network between Australia and Asia, while the A330-200s will be operated by Qantas Domestic on routes between the east coast and Perth – enabling the final retirement of the group’s Boeing 767s. Qantas will also purchase five additional Boeing 737-800 aircraft for Qantas Domestic (for delivery during 2014) and extend the leases on two existing B737-800s this year. The A330 reconfiguration program and the additional B737-800 orders do not affect the group’s planned capital expenditure of $1.6 billion in 2012/13 and $1.5 billion in 2013/14.

SAA Upgrades Food Menu

South African Airways has brought Tsogo Sun’s Executive Chef, Benny Masekwameng onboard to upgrade its premium and regional onboard menu. Masekwameng is the Executive Chef of the Tsogo Sun hotel group and a MasterChef South Africa judge, and his signature dishes will be introduced on all of SAA’s international premium class and regional flights. SAA refreshes its food and beverage menu annually. Each SAA customer is offered a menu selection, which includes Halaal, Kosher and Vegetarian options.