How to Book The Cheapest Flights in South Africa?

The answer is quite simple, use a flight comparison website like FlightFinder.co.za. A flight comparison website searches flight ticket prices with all the leading airlines. You can then select the cheapest flights that match your requirements.

Which is the cheapest airline in South Africa?

The cheapest airline in South Africa is either FlySafair, Lift, Airlink, CemAir or South African Airways.

It may surprise you, but that is actually the honest answer. Any one of those airlines may have the cheapest flight for your date or dates of travel. The airline industry is extremely competitive and no airline will survive if they do not provide cheap flights.

For example, if you are looking to fly tomorrow morning from Johannesburg to Cape Town then currently CemAir is the cheapest airline in South Africa. The second cheapest airline is FlySaFair and the third is Lift. However, if you wanted to fly next week (also in the morning) then FlySaFair is the cheapest Airline in South Africa. The second cheapest airline is Airlink.

What you need to understand is, no airline is always the cheapest airline in South Africa. Flight ticket prices change by the minute depending on demand. In really simple terms, the first few seats on a flight are sold cheaply, once they are sold, the price increases. Once half of all the seats are sold, the price increases again. The last few seats on a flight are often sold at extremely high prices.

IMPORTANT – So now that you understand that there is no such thing as “the cheapest airline in South Africa”, how do you find the cheapest flights? The answer is simple, really simple. You use a flight comparison website like FlightFinder.co.za.

You can use FlightFinder.co.za to search for and compare flight ticket prices with all of the South African airlines mentioned above. Once you find a flight that you like, you should book it right away. It is very rare for flight ticket prices to go do. In almost every case ticket prices increase as time passes.

We hope that this explanation answers the question of which is the cheapest airline in South Africa.

What are the low-cost domestic airlines in South Africa?

The low-cost domestic airlines in South Africa are FlySafair and Lift Airline. That said Airlink, CemAir or South African Airways all offer flights at a similar price.

In the past, there used to be a clear difference between premium airlines and low-cost airlines. However, in recent years most airlines have had to reduce the quality of their economy-class service due to competitive pressure. For example, where you used to get a small meal on a domestic flight operated by a premium airline, you may now only be given a bottle of water and a packet of crisps/chips. You may have the option to purchase a full meal at an additional cost. 

Another differentiating factor between the premium airlines and the low-cost airlines was the ability to choose your seat at no extra cost. Nowadays even the premium airlines seem to be charging an extra fee to select your seat.

Which airlines offer domestic flights in South Africa?

Book cheap domestic flights in South Africa with the following airlines:

• Airlink
• SaFair
• CemAir
• South African Airways
• Lift Airline

What is the largest airline in South Africa?

It may come as a surprise that Airlink is the largest airline in South Africa, with a fleet of 61 aircraft. Followed by SaFair with 26 aircraft, CemAir with 23 aircraft, and South African Airways with 9 aircraft. Lift is the smallest South African airline with 3 aircraft.

How many domestic airlines are there in South Africa?

There are 5 domestic airlines in South Africa. They are as follows Airlink SaFair, CemAir, South African Airways and Lift.

Some of the above-mentioned airlines do also fly internationally.

Which domestic airline is the best in South Africa?

In terms of on-time performance, FlySafair achieved an impressive 95.3% (1 Jan – 31 Dec 2022). Airlink topped that with an OTP of 95.52%. South African Airways attained 82.94% and CemAir achieved a rather disappointing 60.68%. Lift, the new airline on the block managed a 79.26% on-time-performance. So if you measure what domestic airline is the best in South Africa based on on-time performance, then the answer is Airlink.