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South African Airways 747 Seat Maps

The SAA 747-400 that emerged from the 2002 "Millennium" retrofit seated 331 in three classes, with 11 First Class pods in the nose and 285 economy seats split between the main and upper decks.

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South African Airways was the first airline outside the United States to order the 747SP, and it flew jumbos from 1971 until the last 747-400 was retired in 2010. Its most-documented cabin is the one produced by the 2002 “Millennium” retrofit, which reworked the airline’s eight -400s in one programme.

The “Millennium” 747-400

The refitted aircraft carried 331 seats in three classes: 11 First Class pods in the nose, 35 business class seats in a 2-3-2 layout, and 285 economy seats. The economy figure was split between the main deck, at 3-4-3, and the upper deck, at 3-3 with extra pitch — the bubble made a genuinely better seat than the main cabin, which is why SAA put economy, not a lounge, up there.

Before the retrofit

The pre-2002 first-class cabins were not uniform. South African Airways flew -400s that were new-build and -400s acquired second-hand (including El Al-type and ex-Swissair examples), and their First Class cabins differed — some 12-seat sleepers, some 14-seat non-sleepers, and later a pod layout. The history is easier to follow through the aircraft than a single seat plan.

The classic jumbos

The airline’s earlier 747-200s and 747-300s carried First Class in the nose with a lounge in the small upper deck, in the pattern set by the earliest 747s. Two SAA jumbos survive in museums: the 747-200B ZS-SAN Lebombo and the 747SP ZS-SPC Maluti, both preserved by the SAA Museum Society.

Cabin archive

Visual seat maps

Cabin zones run from the nose on the left to the tail on the right. Seat symbols show the typical abreast pattern, not every individual row.

Archived configuration2002–2011

SAA 747-400 "Millennium" layout

The refitted SAA 747-400: 11 First Class pods in the nose, 35 business seats at 2-3-2 and 285 economy seats, with the upper deck used for economy.

331passenger seats
Upper deckEconomy
Economy3-3 typicalElevated pitch compared with the main deck
Main deckNose at left
First Class11 seats · 1-1 typicalNose pods
Business Class35 seats · 2-3-2 typical
Economy3-4-3 typical

Map note: Completed across the fleet by July 2002, the "Millennium" retrofit added audio-video-on-demand and reworked the cabins. First Class was 1-1 pods in the nose, business class 2-3-2 on the main deck, and economy ran 3-4-3 on the main deck and 3-3 on the upper deck, where the extra pitch made the bubble a prized place to sit.

Configuration source: SeatGuru, archived by the Wayback Machine (2006)

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the primary and institutional references below.

  1. South African Airways 747-400 (version A) seat map — SeatGuru, archived by the Wayback Machine
  2. SAA historical aircraft — Boeing 747-300 — SAA History
  3. South African Airways — Wikipedia

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