|
SAA 75 Stamp issue date: 30 January 2009 General SAA History For more than seven decades, South Africans across the world and international visitors to and from the country have been warmly welcomed on board South African Airways, one of the world’s oldest airlines. Passengers have been carried over six continents and treated to a truly African and fundamentally South African experience. Today, our technologically advanced aircraft coupled with our exceptional safety record makes us the airline of choice for more than 7,4 million passengers each year. We have firmly entrenched our position as one of the leading airlines in Africa regularly recognised as the Best Airline in Africa by industry leaders and passengers. It is this recognition and our constant efforts to offer a quality travel experience that we are today a member of the largest and best rated international airline network, Star Alliance. This network has 22 internationally recognised airline members and through this partnership, SAA can offer its customers more destinations and unrivalled travel benefits. It is our illustrious history that has ensured our place in the industry today and we have certainly come a long way. It is thus an honour to have this milestone of 75 years recorded by the South African Post Office with a commemorative stamp. From having the capability to carry a mere 14 passengers when the airline opened its doors in 1934 on our Junkers Ju52/3m aircraft to more than 300 today using an Airbus A340-600. Our first regional flight in 1937 was operated from Johannesburg-Pietersburg-Buluwayo-Livingstone-Lusaka. Now, SAA operates directly to a total of 19 destinations on the continent. In earlier times, a flight from Johannesburg to London lasted approximately 32 hours with a number of stopovers in between to refuel. That same flight is now operated non-stop and takes a maximum of 12 hours. In 1991, the deregulation of the domestic market gave SAA that added motivation to offer even more and better services. In 1997, three years after the birth of South African democracy, SAA introduced a new tail adorned with the colours of SA’s new national flag – red, black, green, gold and blue. Compared to 75 years ago, our customers have more choice and are more empowered having the ability to book and manage their own travel, as well as self-check-in at airport kiosks or at home via the internet. Our commitment to safety is unwavering and we will continue working hard at maintaining this. Although we have come through many trying times in our history and the current tumultuous global aviation circumstances are evident for all to see, we will always strive to be an airline that satisfies and exceeds our customers’ needs and expectations. Thank you to each and every South African for supporting us over the decades, and for helping us to strive to be better. Your support will undoubtedly see us through another 75 years.
Aircraft tails The Junkers JU52-3m The aircraft’s distinctive corrugated skin was painted silver with a black finish on the engine cowlings and aft of the engines. Lacking a logo of its own at that time, they featured a plaque with the SA Coat of Arms on the tail and the aircraft’s name and the titles “SA Airways (SAR&H)” below the cockpit windows. The aircraft’s registration was prominently displayed above and below the wings and on both sides of the aft fuselage. By 1937 a winged adaptation of the SA Railways Springbuck, in a black winged circle containing the lettering South African Airways in English and Afrikaans, replaced the original titles. In total SAA operated 15 aircraft of this type. The first three were sold in 1938, 11 were taken over by the SA Air Force at the outbreak of the Second World War, and one was destroyer in an accident shortly after its arrival at Germiston. Specifications:
The Douglas DC-4 Skymaster The last DC-4 was withdrawn from SAA service in 1967. The last DC-4 built by the Douglas Company was for SAA, and this aircraft still flies the South African skies on special charters and flying safaris. Initially the aircraft were utilized in a blue and silver colour scheme (Hence the slogan “The Blue and Silver Fleet” of the 1950’s). The original winged Springbuck in the winged circle was used, but in 1948 SAA registered its own Springbuck with a more prominent and stylized wing. This logo adorned the nose of the DC-4’s and the name South African Airways – Suid-Afrikaanse-Lugdiens in italic script was applied above the blue cheat line that ran through the cabin windows. A winged line ran through the lettering. The South African flag was applied to the lower part of the fin and the aircraft registration was painted above the flash on the fin. Specifications:
The Boeing 707-320 For the introduction of such a radical change in aircraft, a new colour scheme was designed by SAA’s chief draughtsman, Mr. Rex Linaker. The concept was a dramatic departure from the previously staid colour schemes SAA had employed in the past. The front of the aircraft remained the same, but the tail now proudly sported a distinct orange fin broken by a white and blue “Boomerang” bisected by a small Springbuck halfway up the vertical section. In the bend of the angle was the name “Boeing 707” and the word “Intercontinental”, in script, was placed below the backward pointing sector. With the introduction of the 707, SAA was able to expand its network worldwide, taking in the Far East, North and South America and additional destinations in Europe. Ten 707’s were purchased, in three different models. The turbojet A Model, the turbofan B Model and the combination passenger/cargo turbofan powered C Model. The 707 remained in SAA service for 21 years, placing the airline firmly amongst the world’s leading airlines. Specifications: The Boeing 747-244 “Super B” For the drastic change to an aircraft of this magnitude, a new sleek and futuristic Springbuck was designed to update the 1948 classic buck which had graced SAA aircraft for over two decades. The colour scheme on the Boeing 747-244B was basically the same as in the present fleet of jet liners except that the blue outline of the cheatline was replaced by an orange underline and the Springbuck was moved from the middle of the “Boomerang” to the inside of its bend. The most striking change to take place on the new aircraft was the introduction of the eyebrow flash which extended rearwards from the nose up over the upstairs cockpit windows. This very attractive design was to receive much acclaim during the some 12 years it was utilized, until the arrival of the Boeing 747-344 towards the end of 1980. Specifications:
The Airbus A300 The colour scheme for the tail was that of the recently delivered B747 Combi aircraft which did away with the traditional “Boomerang” and had only a large Springbuck located in the middle of the plain orange tail. As on the Boeing 747-200, the broad blue cheatline was underlined by a single orange line. The Airbus A300 was to serve SAA well for over two decades, finally being phased out of service at the end of the 1990’s. Specifications:
The Boeing 747-400 Specifications: This very special stamp sheet featuring uniform and captain’s cap insignia is gold foiled and embossed to create the impression of the original metal insignia worn on uniforms. The gold foil is overprinted with fine brown line work to enhance the shadow detail of the embossing. It is the first time that gold foil has been overprinted on stamps for an African country. The normal production order is: CMYK printing, foiling, printing on the foil and embossing but Enschedé changed this production order for the first time because the line work printed over the foil is so fine. For these stamps the production order is: CMYK printing, foiling, embossing and printing on the embossed foil. The first cap badge to identify SAA as a newly-formed airline was struck in brass and somewhat short lived, being replaced by a gold wire embroidered badge bearing the South African Coat-of-Arms in a wreath and surmounted by a crown, reflecting our ties to the British Commonwealth. The letters SAA & SAL appeared in a scroll underneath. The pilot’s wings, also embroidered in gold wire, resembled those of the SAAF but bore the letters SAA & SAL in the center.These insignia were worn again after the Second World War and continued in use until the late 1940s. In 1948 a new “Flying Springbok” emblem was introduced and featured in the center of the new insignia - facing to the left, this was apparently heraldically inappropriate and by 1952 media advertisements and other promotional items carried the same emblem now facing to the right. The insignia however were never changed and continued in use until 1961, though a completely different pilot’s wing struck in bronze was worn for a brief period during the late 1950s. With becoming a Republic, new insignia were introduced with the South African Coat-of-Arms featured in the place of the crown on the cap badge and replaced the “Flying Springbok” in the center of the pilot’s wings. This gold wire wing was replaced during the 1970s by one struck in brass with stylised straight wings. In 1971 the old style ‘Flying Springbok” was replaced by a more modern stylised version and insignia were changed accordingly. The cap badge bore the new emblem and pilot’s wings struck in brass with stylised straight wings were intoduced but by the 1980s were replaced by one with downward curving wings. In 1991 the uniforms and insignia underwent a radical change and a very different cap badge and pilot’s wing were introduced. The current corporate identity of SAA was introduced in 1997 and though the outward appearance of the insignia remained unchanged the “Flying Springbok” was replaced by a emblem based on the new South African flag. |