What It Costs to Fly in South Africa Right Now: Real Fares Checked 7 October 2026

Check today’s fares for your dates

How we checked these fares

On the evening of 7 October 2026 (between about 20:20 and 20:50 SAST) we ran 23 live searches on Travelstart's flight search, the same search that sits on every VistaVoyage page. Every search was one adult, economy, one-way, for four reference departure dates: Wednesday 14 October (one week out), Wednesday 28 October (three weeks out), Friday 13 November and Friday 18 December (the start of the school holidays). Not every route was checked on every date.

For each search we recorded the five cheapest fares the results page showed, and kept the cheapest fare per airline. That means an airline missing from a row was not among the five cheapest options for that date. It does not mean the airline doesn't fly the route. Fares are live inventory and move every day, sometimes every hour, so treat these as a dated snapshot rather than a price promise.

Route by route: the cheapest fares we found

Johannesburg → Cape Town

South Africa's busiest route. FlySafair and LIFT held a tight R1,949–R2,129 band for October and November. The cheapest December fare came from Airlink, with a 20kg bag included. Full Johannesburg to Cape Town route guide →

Cape Town → Johannesburg

The return leg was consistently cheaper than the outbound. SAA had the lowest fare on two of the four dates, and every SAA fare we saw included a 23kg bag. Full Cape Town to Johannesburg route guide →

Johannesburg → Durban

The clearest finding of the night. SAA undercut LIFT on every date we checked, and its fare included a 23kg bag that LIFT charges extra for. Full Johannesburg to Durban route guide →

Durban → Johannesburg

A mirror of the outbound: SAA from R779 with a bag in October. FlySafair came in at R849 (cabin bag only) on 14 October. Full Durban to Johannesburg route guide →

Cape Town → Durban

The coastal route costs more than either Joburg route: R2,049 at best. CemAir is the only airline here that includes a bag in its fare, and on 18 December it was the cheapest option. Full Cape Town to Durban route guide →

Durban → Cape Town

FlySafair was cheapest for 28 October at R2,339. CemAir was R400 more but included a 21kg bag. Full Durban to Cape Town route guide →

Johannesburg → Gqeberha

R1,099 on SAA with a bag in late October, more than double that for the December getaway. Full Johannesburg to Gqeberha route guide →

Johannesburg → George

FlySafair's early departure was the only fare under R2,000 in October. The December fare almost doubles, and CemAir and Airlink are the bag-included options. Full Johannesburg to George route guide →

Johannesburg → East London

FlySafair from R1,179 for 28 October. Airlink was R300 more with a 20kg bag included. Full Johannesburg to East London route guide →

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The bag maths: why the cheapest headline fare often isn't

On Johannesburg → Cape Town for 28 October, three airlines priced within R80 of each other. The difference was in what the fare included:

The add-on prices above are the ones Travelstart showed on that search. If you are travelling with a suitcase, compare the total, not the fare. On this night the full-service fare was the budget option on Joburg–Durban, Joburg–Gqeberha and Cape Town–Joburg as well. Our baggage cost calculator does the sum for any route.

What December costs compared with October

Using the cheapest fare we saw for 28 October against the cheapest for Friday 18 December:

The pattern matches how December demand works in South Africa. Holiday traffic flows out of Gauteng to the coast, so routes into Gqeberha, George and Durban climb sharply. Johannesburg → Cape Town has so much capacity across five airlines that a well-timed fare can still undercut a quiet October date. If you're heading to the Eastern Cape or the Garden Route for the holidays, the fares above say book now. On Joburg–Cape Town you can afford to compare.

What to do with this

1. Price the total, not the fare. If you check a bag, a full-service fare with the bag included was the cheapest option in more than half of our searches.
2. Fly back on the cheap leg. Cape Town → Johannesburg was cheaper than the outbound on all four dates we checked, by between R20 and R710.
3. Coastal-to-coastal costs more. Cape Town ↔ Durban was the most expensive pair we checked outside December. If your dates are flexible, a Joburg connection is worth pricing too.
4. Book December Eastern Cape and Garden Route trips early. Those routes had already doubled by 7 October.

Compare fares for your trip

Frequently asked questions

How much is a flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town right now?

On 7 October 2026 the cheapest one-way fare we found was R1,949 for Wednesday 28 October, on LIFT (cabin bag only) and SAA (23kg bag included). Mid-October and mid-November dates were R2,029–R2,129. These are live fares that change daily.

What is the cheapest flight from Johannesburg to Durban?

SAA at R779 one-way for both 14 and 28 October 2026, with a 23kg bag incl., cheaper than LIFT on every date we checked.

Are December flights more expensive in South Africa?

It depends on the route. On 7 October 2026, flights from Johannesburg to Gqeberha and George for 18 December cost roughly double the late-October fare, while Johannesburg to Cape Town was actually cheaper in December than in mid-October.

Is FlySafair always the cheapest airline?

No. On the night we checked, a fare with a checked bag included (usually SAA or Airlink) was the cheapest option in more than half of all searches, before any baggage fees were added to the low-cost fares.

Want to judge whether a fare is good rather than just cheap? See our 2026 rand benchmarks by route and our cheapest airline ranking.