South Africans looking to make the most of the upcoming long weekend will need to pay around R5,000 to fly from Johannesburg to Cape Town and back, according to flight price research conducted by TopAuto.
However, it has to be noted that this figure will vary greatly depending on the time and day you choose to book your flight, as well as the airline you choose to fly with.
Flight prices in South Africa are rather high at the moment, as a result of global jet fuel supply shortages and increased prices.
South Africa’s cheapest air fares
TopAuto used Google Flights data to compare the best rates for flights with every major airline in South Africa this coming weekend.
Flight prices for this trip are currently considered high by Google Flights, which notes that the cheapest flights for similar trips to Cape Town usually cost between R2,350 and R4,750.
Booking on Monday, 27 April, the cheapest day to fly to Cape Town is Friday, which is a public holiday, before returning on Sunday, on time to make it to work on Monday.
Should you take an extra day off on either side of the long weekend, return flight prices increase across most airlines.
We filtered our search results to reflect a single adult travelling one-way in economy class from Johannesburg to Cape Town on Friday, 1 May, which had the lowest advertised price at R2,061 per ticket.
By comparison, the cheapest flight on Thursday was R2,197 per ticket.
Below are the cheapest departing flight results for flights with FlySafair, Lift, South African Airways (SAA), CemAir, and Airlink.
Note that these figures are accurate at the time of writing and are subject to change based on the time and day you book:
| Airline | Departing Flight time (1 May) | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Lift | 19:00 – 21:10 | R2,061 |
| FlySafair | 16:20 – 18:40 | R2,231 |
| South African Airways | 19:00 – 21:15 | R2,589 |
| Airlink | 20:35 – 22:50 | R2,710 |
| Cemair | 13:45 – 16:00 | R2,919 |
None of these flights is particularly cheap, but the Lift one-way ticket to Cape Town from Johannesburg saves flyers R170.
Most of these flights are later in the day, granting travellers less time in the Mother City, with more expensive flights allowing for more time in Cape Town.
Interestingly, flights going the other way are marginally cheaper, with those flying from Cape Town to Joburg paying a few hundred rand less for a one-way ticket.
Air fares for flyers from Cape Town increase as the weekend goes on, making return tickets for travellers from Johannesburg more expensive.
These were the cheapest return ticket results for each airline:
| Airline | Departing Flight time (28 March) | Price |
|---|---|---|
| FlySafair | 05:45 – 07:50 | R2,626 |
| Lift | 07:00 – 09:00 | R3,025 |
| South African Airways | 20:25 – 22:25 | R3,887 |
| Airlink | 06:05 – 08:10 | R3,940 |
| CemAir | 08:00 – 10:00 | R4,288 |
Return tickets with FlySafair are the cheapest option, by around R400, with Lift in second place, and South African Airways in third.
The former two tickets will require travellers to return home earlier, while the latter will grant travellers from Joburg more time in Cape Town.
If you were to book the two cheapest flights for the departing and return journeys, the final amount paid would be R4,687.
This is quite a bit more than what it cost to fly to and from Cape Town in February, before the conflict in the Middle East started.
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