The Boeing 747-244 “Super B”
With international flights now exceeding 3 per day and SAA having passed the one million passengers per year mark, the need for a larger aircraft and the necessity for offering a service equal or superior to the competition prompted the decision to remain with Boeing and to acquire the new wide bodied Boeing 747 aircraft. The first aircraft of the initial order of three, ZS-SAN “Lebombo”, arrived amongst much fanfare on 6 November 1971 and was pressed into service on the Springbuck route to London barely a month later. SAA operated five 747-244B’s.

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.