It is more affordable to fly to Durban from Johannesburg than it is to drive there, if you’re traveling during the week. Over the weekend, it’s the other way around.
At the current inland rates of R23.34/litre for petrol 95, it has rarely been so costly to travel across the country on four wheels, but airlines have not been immune to price pressures from the fuel industry with disappearing competitors also taking away available seats in the air, and flight tickets have consequently skyrocketed in value over the past few years.
As such, you’ll find shorter trips like the one from the City of Gold to Durbs are cheaper in a car, but longer routes like the one to Cape Town are cheaper in a plane.
Wheels
The trip from Johannesburg’s most famous landmark, Sandton City, to Durban’s beachfront at North Beach is approximately 584km and is expected to take a smidge over six hours.
The majority of the journey follows the busy N3 freeway eastbound and includes the De Hoek, Wilge, Tugela, Mooi, and Marianhill toll gates.
The combined costs of these concessions work out to R307.50 for a standard passenger car in one direction.
As an accurate representation of a modern family car and one of the most popular vehicles in the country, we chose the new Toyota Urban Cruiser as our mule for the trip.
With an average fuel consumption of 6.1l/100km, the 1.5-litre crossover would use at least 35.62 litres of petrol from point A to B, equating to R832 in fuel spend one way.
Wings
To calculate the cost of flights, we looked at what was available from major South African airlines, with a departure date set at least two weeks away from the time of booking, both on a weekday and during the weekend to see how your choice of date affects affordability.
The following tickets were the lowest-priced available on the given days, Wednesday 14 June and Friday 16 June, for a one-way and a return trip one week later for a single adult booked in economy class:
| Airline | One-way flight (Wednesday/Friday) | Return trip (Wednesday/Friday) |
|---|---|---|
| Lift | R470 / R1,110 | R1,060 / R1,950 |
| FlySafair | R681 / R1,233 | R1,412 / R1,964 |
| South African Airways | R696.26 / R696.26 | R1,594.52 / R2,861.02 |
| Airlink | R973.26 / R1,157.26 | R1,946.52 / R2,314.52 |
| CemAir | R2,260.47 / R2,260.47 | R2,968.44 / R3,313.44 |
Naturally, the flight isn’t the only expense you will have to deal with during your travels, as you will also need to get to and from the airport.
If you take your own vehicle, you can expect to pay in the realm of R990 for parking at OR Tambo for seven days.
With ride-hailing services such as Uber, the most affordable trip from Sandton City to OR Tambo at the time of writing is an UberGo for R208, while from King Shaka to North Beach it costs R256, equating to a total of R464.
Winner
Driving from Joburg to Durban in one direction costs approximately R1,139.50 including fuel and tolls, meaning it’s R2,279 to travel both ways in the Urban Cruiser.
Flying from Joburg to Durban at the cheapest rates available which is in the middle of the week, and using a Uber to get to and from the airports, results in a one-way cost of R934, and a total spend of R1,988.
However, if you’d like to fly on a Friday, the bill jumps to a minimum of R1,574 to get to the endpoint, and a total of R2,878 to get back.
The travel cost per air also does not account for the price of renting a car for a week at your final destination should you not have one readily available, which easily adds another couple of thousand rands to your holiday tab.
This shows that, if you decide to travel during off-peak times, it can be cheaper to go by plane than by car, but during peak dates, the four-wheeler still remains the more affordable choice even with sky-high fuel prices.
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