What it costs to fly between Cape Town and Joburg right now

Anyone travelling between Cape Town and Johannesburg over the next few weeks may want to fly instead of drive, especially at current petrol and diesel prices, since a return flight costs less than R3,000.

Naturally, this depends on the time and day you choose to fly, as well as when you make your booking, since early bookings may be cheaper than booking last minute.

Also, more convenient or desirable travel days and times tend to come at a premium, and airlines can charge different prices for similar flights.

South Africa’s cheapest air fares

Using Google Flights data to compare the best flight rates from every major airline in South Africa, TopAuto looked at when it would be cheapest to leave Cape Town for Joburg.

While most travellers prefer to do so over the weekend, we found that the cheapest available flights over the next week depart on Saturday, 17 October.

Interestingly, midweek flights between the Mother City and the City of Gold are currently more expensive.

We filtered our search to consider a single adult travelling one-way in economy class from Cape Town to Johannesburg.

Below are all of the best results for flights with FlySafair, Lift Airline, Airlink, CemAir, and South African Airways (SAA) departing Cape Town for Johannesburg on Saturday, 17 October.

Note that these figures are accurate at the time of writing and are subject to change based on the time and day you book:

Of all the major carriers in South Africa, Lift had the cheapest tickets on the day, with a one-way ticket costing R1,312, followed by the country’s largest domestic air carrier, FlySafair.

For those who prefer to leave midday, CemAir and Airlink had the best options, taking off at 13:30 and 14:00 respectively.

However, that preference comes at a premium of up to R700 more than the cheap early-morning flight offered by Lift.

While not the most common choice, those who prefer to leave at night can do so aboard South Africa’s national carrier, which only departs the Mother City at 20:25, landing in Joburg at 22:25.

For those looking to spend a few weeks in Joburg, the cheapest return tickets could once again be booked to depart on a Saturday – 31 October to be precise.

These were the cheapest return ticket results for each airline:

Return flights were more expensive for nearly all airlines, with CemAir being the exception by offering tickets back to Cape Town for around R100 cheaper.

Lift was the cheapest option once again, but this time with a late afternoon departure landing in Cape Town after 18:00.

Time slots for the cheapest flight aboard each carrier varied, giving flyers several options to suit their preference.

FlySafair’s 05:55 flight was the earliest option, while South African Airways offered the best midday departure, leaving at 14:30 and landing at 16:45.

If you book both the cheapest flights between Cape Town and Johannesburg, your total spend will be R2,763, which is slightly more expensive than a few months ago.

This is likely down to higher jet fuel prices as a result of the seemingly endless conflict between the US and Iran.

In July, travellers could fly between the Cape Town International Airport and OR Tambo International Airport for as little as R2,425, highlighting the effect of the Middle East situation on ordinary South Africans.