Springbok | Airbus A340 family | 2011-present

The A340 is currently the backbone of Springbok's long haul fleet. With a fleet totalling 24, South Africa's flag carrier is one of the largest operators of the A340 worldwide. Following an order in 1999, 13 A340-300s were delivered between 2001 and 2004, while it received its 11 A340-600s from 2003 to 2006, with the last 5 being the A340-600HGW variant.

With its significantly longer range compared to the same-sized A330-300, the A340-300 served as the backbone of Springbok's expansion plans. From its Johannesburg base, the jet helped launch many of Springbok's routes to Asia, as well as its first services to Australia in 2007. In recent years some of the type have been relocated to Springbok's new developing hub in Cape Town. The A340-600 was ordered to replace the 747-400, which, although still young, was too large for the South African market. Although originally coming in two configurations, the 11 jets have featured the same premium-heavy configuration since the 2011 rebranding. Springbok sends these jets, the largest in the fleet, to its most popular destinations such as London, Paris and Beijing, where their capacity is needed. At the same time, the 5 HGW units, with a range of 14600km, could reach further than any other aircraft in the airline's fleet, and were used to launch ultra long haul flights to New York JFK and Tokyo Narita.

Unfortunately though, the A340 fleet is ageing and expensive to operate. Newer twin-engined aircraft can now offer the same performance with much better fuel economics than these quadjets, and the pandemic has only further underlined the need for a replacement. As a result, since late 2019 Springbok has started receiving A350 jets to replace the older A340s.

ZS-DFL was the 6th A340-300 delivered to Springbok. It was delivered to the airline on December 15th 2002, entering service shortly thereafter on the JNB-FCO route. It is configured with 30 Business Class and 267 Economy Class seats. The aircraft is currently based at Cape Town, however it remains stored until international travel restrictions ease.

ZS-PEN is the 7th A340-600 to be delivered to Springbok, arriving and Johannesburg on March 20th, 2006. It was the first of the A340-600HGWs delivered to the company. It launched 4x weekly flights to Tokyo Narita airport in 2014. It is configured with 46 Business Class and 300 Economy Class seats.