Flight prices in South Africa compared: FlySafair vs Airlink vs SAA and more

FlySafair offers the most affordable last-minute flights from Johannesburg to Durban and Gqeberha, while Airlink provides the cheapest flights to Cape Town and George, a BusinessTech analysis reveals.

Booking flights can be a significant expense. Although planning in advance is generally more cost-effective, last-minute bookings often become necessary and can be costly.

As a result, BusinessTech compared the prices of last-minute round trips from Johannesburg to Durban, Cape Town, Gqeberha, and George among five prominent local airlines:

• FlySafair;
• Lift;
• South African Airways (SAA);
• Airlink;
• CemAir.

We selected the cheapest available flights leaving today (Thursday, 1 August 2024) and returning on Sunday (4 August).

Last-minute flight price showdown

Out of the four selected routes, FlySafair proved cheaper in two, while Airlink proved cheaper in the others.

All five carriers — AirLink, CemAir, FlySafair, Lift, and SAA — had flights available for the Johannesburg to Durban and Johannesburg to Cape Town flights.

Airlink was the cheapest for the Cape Town flight. It charged R1,088 for the outgoing flight and R1,019 for the return trip, for a total cost of R2,107.

SAA was the most expensive for this route, costing R4,208.

Those looking to travel to Durban from Johannesburg at short notice will likely prefer FlySafair’s rates, provided that they need a bag checked-in.

FlySafair charges R652 for the outgoing flight and R600 for the return, for a total of R1,252 —  over R500 less than the next cheapest option, Lift.

The most expensive option for this route was Airlink, costing a total of R3,787 – R948 for the outgoing flight and a whopping R2,839 for the incoming.

As the route between Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport and George, as well as Gqeberha, are not as popular as the other routes, not all offer routes there.

Only three carriers offer flights to George — FlySafair, CemAir, and Airlink.

Airlink offers the cheapest, at R849 for both the outgoing and return flight to bring the total R1,698.

All of the airlines except for Lift offer flights to Gqeberha.

FlySafair offers the cheapest at R850 for outgoing and R652 for return. This R1,502 is more than half the price of SAA, whose cost for this route sits at R3,102.

Johannesburg (OR Tambo) to Durban (King Shaka)

Johannesburg (OR Tambo) to Cape Town

Johannesburg (OR Tambo) to Gqeberha/Port Elizabeth

Johannesburg (OR Tambo) to George

South Africa’s airline space

In recent years, the domestic airline sector in South Africa has undergone major upheavals – with the rise of some, and the subsequent fall of others.

Some of the big changes includes airlines such as SAA battling to maintain operations and Comair halting its business activities within the country.

Looking at SAA, the state-owned airline consistently found itself in the bottom half of the comparisons, with some prices doubling that of its competitors.

SAA used to serve destinations across Africa and several major global cities, but it has not been profitable since 2011.

Back in 2019, SAA, which had around R28 billion in liabilities and was seen as a black hole for taxpayer-funded bailouts, was placed under business rescue (which it exited in 2021).

The South African government planned to sell 51% of SAA to the Takatso group for R51—made up of closely held Global Airways and private equity firm Harith General Partners—before the deal was called off by former Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan.

Deputy President Paul Mashatile recently said that selling a majority of SAA to those in the private sector with the capital and expertise to turn the embattled state-owned entity around may be the best way forward.

“I wouldn’t mind resuscitating SAA as a state-owned company, but my approach would be to partner with the private sector because I don’t think the government will have all the money [to run it],” said Mashatile interview with the Sunday Times.

“Remember, SAA was bailed out a number of times; the Treasury must have spent close to R9 billion trying to rescue it,” he added.

Another once-prominent domestic airline in South Africa, Kulula, is no longer an option for travellers after their parent company Comair ceased operations in the country back in 2022.

Comair handled around 40% of the country’s domestic flight volume — including British Airways flights — on its operated routes.

However, the company announced that Kulula was beyond rescue after it was unable to raise the funding required for the company to continue with its operations.

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