Lifestyle

The cost of driving vs flying from Joburg to Cape Town and Durban this Easter

Luke Fraser

 ·27 Mar 2026

South African travellers are set for a brutal travel bill this Easter due to the conflict in the Middle East and skyrocketing fuel prices.

Fuel prices are set for a massive increase just ahead of the Easter weekend after the US and Israel launched military strikes on Iran, with the Persian nation responding by targeting the region’s energy supplies.

The conflict has led to the price of oil skyrocketing and the rand weakening due to risk-off sentiment, which are the two components when determining fuel prices.

While the official fuel changes for April have yet to be announced, the latest CEF data for the end of the month—the leading indicator of upcoming changes—shows massive under-recoveries for petrol and diesel.

The latest data from the CEF points to an under-recovery of R5.82 per litre of 95 petrol next week, while diesel could increase by over R10 per litre. The projected levels are:

• Petrol 93: increase of R5.31 per litre
• Petrol 95: increase of R5.82 per litre
• Diesel 0.05% (wholesale): increase of R10.13 per litre
• Diesel 0.005% (wholesale): increase of R10.27 per litre
• Illuminating paraffin: increase of R11.62 per litre

On top of these oil price and rand-driven changes, a 21-cent-per-litre tax hike is also scheduled to kick in from 1 April.

The official changes come into effect on Wednesday, 1 April, with the Department of Petroleum and Mineral Resources expected to announce them before then.

Notably, the final adjustments may differ, with the government working to find ways to intervene; however, the state has been non-committal to providing any relief.

Making matters worse for travellers is the fact that the adjustments kick in just before the Easter holiday season begins.

These increases are bad news for all travellers, whether they travel by air or by road.

The lucky few with electric vehicles may avoid the fuel price hikes, but will also have to contend with an 8.8% increase in Eskom’s electricity tariffs.

Amid these challenges, we compared flight and driving costs for trips from Johannesburg to Cape Town and from Johannesburg to Durban.

BusinessTech looked at four popular car models for trips, namely the Toyota Corolla Cross, Toyota Hilux, VW Polo Vivo 1.6, and Suzuki Fronx.

We used data from TopAuto’s driving cost calculator and the price of inland petrol to estimate travel costs. The calculator also includes toll prices.

For flight prices, we obtained the latest price data from four major airlines: CemAir, FlySafair, Lift, and SAA, using data from Google Flights.

What the data shows

Notably, the data shows that driving and flights between Cape Town and Johannesburg are similar in price, depending on the airline and type of vehicle used.

Return flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town start from R4,100 to R6,700, depending on the airline. Driving will cost between R4,500 and R6,200, with major cost pressures for diesel users.

However, this comparison does not account for a stopover, as many need to take a break during the over 14-hour drive.

For Johannesburg and Durban, flights range from R2,900 to R4,200. Driving costs are slightly cheaper, ranging from R2,300 to R3,000.

While the costs for one individual travelling are similar for flying and driving, it is cheaper for a family to drive, since the vehicle costs remain the same while flight prices increase with each additional person.

Driving (per vehicle)

JHB to CPT

JHB to DUR

Flights (per person)

Note: This article used the latest available data. Several pieces of data are prone to change, especially flight prices, which depend on the time of booking, flight type, and airline. The vehicles’ fuel consumption is also based on manufacturer claims. Consumption will differ depending on driving conditions.