South African new A330 Business Class

South African Airways has taken delivery of the first of its new fleet of A330-300 aircraft, which are fitted with brand new business class seats.

Three of the fleet of five new Airbus A330-300 South African Airways jets sports a brand new business class, with lie-flat seats are based on the Vantage XL design by Thompson Aero Seating.

Priestmangoode has put the finishing touches to the seats, and it has built on the brand identity and design language that the design company developed for the airline's short haul fleet in 2014. The designs for the A330-300 fleet include Business and Economy Class cabins, as well as entrance areas, brand panels and cabin branding throughout the aircraft.

The stunning new seat gives South African Airways a continued consistent, elegant design language with subtle detailing and highlights of vibrant colour and pattern.

The 46 business class seats follow the staggered 1-2-1 floorplan of the Vantage XL, with every passenger enjoying direct aisle access plus large video screens and plenty of storage around the seat.

The colour palette contrasts the dark anthracite of contemporary South African architecture and cityscapes with the rich saturated golden tones of winter sun and earthen landscapes. Highlight colours such as burnt red and blues signify the ethnic colour burst of civilisation within the landscape.

This offers vibrant, yet subtle notes of colour in the cabin through reveal details, brand panels, and feature stitching.

Pattern was central to the materials and finishes across the interiors. A series of bespoke prints, which featured in the A320 design, have been updated in coordination with SAA's branding agency CUB3D. The prints are inspired by traditional African crafts, textiles, basket weaving and furniture

The Thompson Aero Seating Vantage XL design comes with a large number of side bins for the noise reducing headphones, as well as putting in your own carry-on items, with all the bins having bright red flashes in the seat's side-storage and footrest compartment.

There is a large 15 inch high definition TV screen with AVOD, and soft stowage/stand for tablet devices.

A cocktail table seamlessly integrates with the rest of the seat.

Mains power, plus USB sockets are within easy reach of the seat.

The latest of the new generic designs, the Business Class Vantage XL is already used on Qantas, SAS and Delta, and the cheaper Vantage design is flown by Swiss and Malaysia Airlines and Swiss.

South African Airways Economy Class A330 comes with 203 newly designed 'slim-line' seats, with smaller cushions giving more personal space. Each seat has a 10 inch touchscreen, USB charging ports and each pair of seats has a shared mains power socket.

Economy features a custom Geven seat upholstered in fabric with a bespoke pattern inspired by contemporary African crafts. The cabin retains touches of vibrant blue on headrests and in stitching details.

The new South African Airways Airbus A330-300 aircraft are routed on Johannesburg to Sao Paulo route, as well as Lagos. During the day they also fly short haul on the short flight linking Cape Town to Johannesburg.