Starting with 7 March 2015, South African Airways resumed direct long-haul flights on the Johannesburg-New York route. South African Airways is the airline of South Africa and the most awarded airline in Africa.
Until March 7, South African Airways operated flights to New York with Airbus A340-300 aircraft and made an approximately one-hour stopover in Dakar, Senegal, in the winter season. Currently, the South African operator has resumed non-stop flights in both directions. The flight duration from Johannesburg to New York was reduced by 90 minutes.
This is because they changed the aircraft. Now flights are honored with Airbus A340-600 aircraft, which offer greater autonomy. In addition to autonomy, the A340-600 also offers greater transport capacity. The aircraft are configured in 2 classes: 42 seats in Business Class and 275 seats in Economy Class.
Below is the current operational program:
| New York-JFK – Johannesburg |
Johannesburg – New York – JFK |
| SA # 204 Nonstop | SA # 203 Nonstop |
| Plecare New York-JFK: 11:15 | Plecare Johannesburg: 20:25 |
| Sosire Johannesburg: 08:05 +1 | Sosire New York – JFK: 06:40 +1 |
I also made a simulation through the South African Airways reservation system:
The flight Johannesburg - New York has a duration of 16 hours and 15 minutes and I can say that it is "fighting" for the 5th place in top 5 longest flights by plane, a classification by duration.