Cheapest flights from Joburg to Cape Town this December

The cheapest flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town will set you back at least R4,824 for a round trip this December.

The holiday season is finally upon us, and South Africans are finalizing plans for a well-deserved break to visit family and friends, or to take advantage of the beach this summer.

Unfortunately, flight costs have gone up significantly over the past year, so you can expect to pay quite the sum if you haven’t already booked your tickets.

Cheapest flights in December 2024

TopAuto used Google Flights data to compare the cheapest flights for every major airline in South Africa this month.

As of the time of writing, the best day to book a trip from Joburg to Cape Town was Saturday, 7 December, as the average cost went up dramatically by the following weekend.

We looked at the lowest option available for every airline, setting our parameters for one person travelling one-way in economy class with an allowance for a single checked-in bag.

These were the results for FlySafair, Lift, South African Airways (SAA), CemAir, and Airlink.

FlySafair was the most affordable choice, but it also had a very late departure time, meaning you will need to pay a slight premium for a flight that leaves at a more accommodating time.

Airlink’s prices were well above average, however, which was a pattern that repeated even when we tried selecting different dates for our trip.

As for the return journey, we examined flights leaving on Sunday, 5 January, as this is a likely the period in which most people will be returning home to start work again the following week.

These were the results for each airline:

Flying is noticeably more expensive over this period than it was in early December, which makes sense given that there is high demand from people who need to return to their jobs.

It’s worth noting that flights for January became significantly cheaper from Monday, 13 Jan onwards with tickets dropping below R2,000, so you may want to apply for leave and take an extended holiday if you wish to avoid a costly return trip.

Putting the price of both flights together, this is how much it’ll cost to fly to Cape Town for the Christmas holidays:

Again, FlySafair proved to be the cheapest option of the group, which is partially explained by the fact is is the only airline that does not include in-flight catering.

Lift and CemAir ended with very similar prices to one another, followed by SAA, and Airlink proved to be the most expensive option by far.