Airlines/South Africa
Is South African Airways safe?
Last fatal accident was the 1987 Helderberg in-flight fire (Flight 295). Restructured in recent years.
A modelled estimate and protected opinion, not a factual safety verdict. Informational only, not safety or travel advice, provided as-is. See our terms & disclaimer.
Operator safety tier
Strong
Modelled fatal-accident risk on the order of 1 in 6.5 million flights.
A model estimate from validated signals (the dominant factor in a flight's safety), not a measurement of this airline's own flight history. IOSA-registered; last fatal accident 1987 (39y ago); rating tempered, too little flight record yet to earn a top rating (an absence of accidents is not yet proof of safety). Full methodology.
Safety signals
Fleet
The actual aircraft in South African Airways's fleet
Individual airframes we hold for South African Airways, with build years taken from public registries and sourced references. These are the specific aircraft you might be boarding, not an industry average. Where we cannot date enough of a subfleet we leave the age blank rather than estimate it.
| Aircraft | In our registry | Average age | Built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A350-900 | 2 | not enough dated | 2018 |
| Airbus A319 | 1 | not enough dated | 2005 |
| Boeing 737-800 | 1 | not enough dated | 2000 |
| Airbus A340-600 | 1 | not enough dated | 2002 |
| Airbus A330-300 | 1 | not enough dated | 2017 |
| Avro RJ85 | 1 | not enough dated | — |