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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Searching For The Cheapest Flights From Durban To Johannesburg, SA Cheapest Flights

By Morton Meintjes


When looking for the cheapest flights from Durban to Johannesburg, and SA cheapest flights in general, one will usually refer to the airlines or agencies which advertise all budget prices. However, because Durban and Cape Town routes are the busiest to and from Johannesburg, more specials are to be found on them.

There are some twenty six air carriers in healthy competition with one another in South Africa, but of these seven are mostly seen as the players known more widely. International carriers are British Airways and South African Airways. There is also South African Express and Airlink. Special prices are occasionally on offer from all of these.

Those best known for offering cheap prices, but with basic no-frills hospitality and accommodation are Kulula Air, 1time, and Mango. A new arrival is Velvet Sky, whose inaugural flight Durban to Johannesburg was on March 22, 2011. Their fares appear to range, one way, between R300 and R400.

It is interesting to compare these fares with the Kulula price in their July sale where they quoted R199 without airport tax. Actually, cheaper was 1time at R219, which did include tax. Mango came out well ahead at the time, though, with R191 tax included . This illustrates the importance of checking whether fares quoted are inclusive of tax.

In fact, many prices on special recently advertised are below R300. Such low costs certainly seem to make it better to travel the 297 miles as the crow flies to Johannesburg by air rather than venturing the 352 mile road distance by car, and certainly not in a hired one. Even the sometimes striking scenery hardly compensates.

Unless there are at least four people travelling, the cost of petrol alone will exceed the fare price. Then there are still toll fees which will add an extra R164 to the cost. It will work out far too expensive for one person alone.

When comparing costs, however, one must remember that the new King Shaka Airport, which is some 18 to 24 miles along the north coast of Durban, is more than twice the distance of the old International Airport to the south. Also, it is a good idea to make a generous time allowance as the road bears a lot of heavy traffic. There is a R4 toll charged on driving out of the airport.

The O. R. Tambo International Airport is some 14 miles out of Johannesburg, which can also add to expense unless accommodation is at one of the hotels close to the airport or at one of the establishments running a free shuttle. However, if one has selected the least expensive flight available, all such costs will easily be absorbed.




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