Travellers reach South Africa from 7 African airports on 7 catalogued routes, flown by South African Airways, FlySafair, Airlink, Kenya Airways, TAAG Angola Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines. This corridor sits in the intra-Africa + Gulf hub transit corridor. The tables below list every catalogued route, the carriers on it, and — where our cache has data — the lowest USD fare seen; all fares are quoted in USD, with on-the-ground spending in ZAR.
Routes to South Africa
7 catalogued corridors reach South Africa from 7 African airports, flown by 6 carriers and totalling about 254 weekly departures, with block times from 1.5 h to 6.0 h. 1 of them run fewer than seven times a week, the line where a cancellation starts costing days rather than hours.
| Route | Carriers | Freq/wk | Block (h) | Market low (USD) | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Town (CPT) → Johannesburg (JNB) | SA, FA | ~35 | ~2.0 | $132 | guide |
| Johannesburg (JNB) → Cape Town (CPT) | FA, SA | ~140 | ~2.2 | — | guide |
| Durban (DUR) → Johannesburg (JNB) | SA, FA | ~35 | ~1.5 | $77 | guide |
| Dar es Salaam (DAR) → Johannesburg (JNB) | 4Z, KQ | ~15 | ~3.5 | — | guide |
| Harare (HRE) → Johannesburg (JNB) | SA, FA | ~14 | ~1.5 | $178 | guide |
| Luanda (LAD) → Johannesburg (JNB) | DT, SA | ~11 | ~4.0 | — | guide |
| Abuja (ABV) → Johannesburg (JNB) | SA, ET | ~4 | ~6.0 | $1,170 | guide |
1 of these corridors runs fewer than seven times a week, which is the line where disruption stops being an inconvenience. Below daily frequency, a cancellation can mean days rather than hours, and re-accommodation onto another airline requires an interline or codeshare agreement rather than goodwill. If your dates into South Africa are fixed, prefer the higher-frequency gateway even at a higher fare.
Airlines flying to South Africa
6 carriers fly the corridors into South Africa covered here; for the 6 we hold details on, checked-baggage baselines run from 20 kg to 23 kg, and 3 of them belong to a global alliance. Baselines are economy figures and depend on the fare family you buy.
Carriers operating the catalogued routes to South Africa, with alliance, baggage baseline and any diaspora or pilgrim baggage uplift:
| Airline | Alliance | Checked baggage | Diaspora uplift | Hajj/Umrah charter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South African Airways (SA) | Star Alliance | 23 kg | +5 kg | No |
| FlySafair (FA) | None | 20 kg | — | No |
| Airlink (4Z) | - | 23 kg | +7 kg | No |
| Kenya Airways (KQ) | SkyTeam | 23 kg | +5 kg | No |
| TAAG Angola Airlines (DT) | - | 23 kg | +12 kg | No |
| Ethiopian Airlines (ET) | Star Alliance | 23 kg | +5 kg | Yes |
Diaspora and migrant-worker baggage uplift recorded against these carriers: Airlink +7 kg, TAAG Angola Airlines +12 kg, Ethiopian Airlines +5 kg, Kenya Airways +5 kg and South African Airways +5 kg. Three exclusions normally apply to promotions of this kind: they attach to nominated corridors rather than the whole network, they are rarely honoured on another airline’s codeshare or interline segment, and the deepest-discount fare buckets are usually carved out. Confirm against your own booking class in writing.
Visa & entry — South Africa
This page does not state an entry requirement for South Africa, because the rule depends on your passport. Check South Africa’s own immigration or foreign-ministry guidance for your nationality before booking — it is the only authority worth acting on.
Visa requirements for South Africa vary by passport. Check South Africa’s official immigration or foreign-ministry guidance for your nationality before booking. On-the-ground currency: ZAR.
Nationality changes this answer. The row above names the passports it covers; a traveller on a West African, East African or North African passport not named there can face a different fee, a different processing route or outright ineligibility for the same South Africa entry class.
The trap on a South Africa itinerary is usually the transit rather than the destination. A connection can place you airside in a third country that requires a transit visa for your nationality even when you never leave the terminal, and the airline checks documentation for the entire itinerary at the origin gate. Check every country your ticket touches, against your own passport.
When to book
Book 4-8 weeks ahead. Treat that window as general guidance for travel into South Africa rather than a rule for a single pairing; on thin corridors seat availability binds before price does.
Book 4-8 weeks ahead. Fares rise around the December holidays; mid-week departures are usually the cheapest. See each per-route guide for month-by-month fare seasonality.
What a booking window really measures is scarcity. Where South Africa is served several times a day, seats keep being released and a late buyer is only paying a premium; where it is served twice a week, the cheap inventory is committed early and lateness is not a price problem but an availability one. Frequency, not the calendar, tells you which case you are in.
There are two different problems here and they have opposite answers. With flexible dates, scan a whole month — the seasonal spread in our own fare log is wider than any difference between one gate and another. With dates locked by a pilgrimage, a school term or a job start, searching is wasted effort and buying early is the only lever left.
Cached fares to South Africa
$77 is the lowest USD quote our cache holds on any corridor into South Africa — on DUR-JNB — out of 4 priced corridors of the 7 catalogued. Each is one cached observation on its own corridor, in economy, not a low across the cache.
Lowest USD fares in our weekly Travelpayouts cache on routes to South Africa (market lows across all carriers, each a dated observation; check live prices before booking):
| Corridor | Market low (USD) | Cheapest month seen |
|---|---|---|
| DUR-JNB | $77 | $38 in Jul 2026 |
| CPT-JNB | $132 | $57 in Aug 2026 |
| HRE-JNB | $178 | $102 in Aug 2026 |
| ABV-JNB | $1,170 | — |
| Corridor | Readings | Cached range (USD) | Cheapest week |
|---|---|---|---|
| DAR-JNB | 6 | $239–$470 | 2026-W25 |
| JNB-CPT | 6 | $110–$173 | 2026-W29 |
| LAD-JNB | 4 | $415–$697 | 2026-W25 |
| CPT-JNB | 3 | $57–$171 | 2026-W29 |
| DUR-JNB | 3 | $39–$124 | 2026-W29 |
Those rows come from our weekly fare log, which samples the cheapest published quote once a week across 161 corridors. Each reading is a single snapshot rather than an average of everything sold that week, so a one-week dip can be one small fare bucket. What the range does establish is a defensible floor: a live quote far above the top of the range on a South Africa corridor is worth a second search on flexible dates.
Departure airports for South Africa
7 African airports have a catalogued corridor to South Africa on this site: Abuja (ABV), Cape Town (CPT), Dar es Salaam (DAR), Durban (DUR), Harare (HRE), Johannesburg (JNB) and Luanda (LAD). Fares from every one of them are quoted in USD so the origins stay comparable.
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Abuja airport (ABV) — Nnamdi Azikiwe International, Nigeria: 5 catalogued departure corridors and 1 arrival corridor.
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Cape Town airport (CPT) — Cape Town International, South Africa: 7 catalogued departure corridors and 1 arrival corridor.
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Dar es Salaam airport (DAR) — Julius Nyerere International, Tanzania: 11 catalogued departure corridors and 2 arrival corridors.
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Durban airport (DUR) — King Shaka International, South Africa: 4 catalogued departure corridors and 0 arrival corridors.
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Harare airport (HRE) — Robert Mugabe International, Zimbabwe: 6 catalogued departure corridors and 1 arrival corridor.
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Johannesburg airport (JNB) — O.R. Tambo International, South Africa: 39 catalogued departure corridors and 6 arrival corridors.
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Luanda airport (LAD) — Quatro de Fevereiro, Angola: 13 catalogued departure corridors and 2 arrival corridors.
FAQ
Do I need a visa for South Africa? Visa requirements depend on your passport. Check the destination’s official immigration or foreign-ministry guidance for your nationality before booking.
What currency is used in South Africa? South Africa uses ZAR. Plan on-the-ground spending in ZAR and compare airfares in USD.
How many routes go to South Africa from Africa? Our catalogue lists 7 routes to South Africa from 7 African airports — see the table above.
When are flights to South Africa cheapest? Book 4-8 weeks ahead. Fares rise around the December holidays; mid-week departures are usually the cheapest.
Which airlines fly to South Africa? Carriers on routes to South Africa include South African Airways, FlySafair, Airlink, Kenya Airways, TAAG Angola Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines. See the per-route airlines in the table above.
How cheap are flights to South Africa? The lowest cached fare to South Africa in our weekly snapshot was about $77 on DUR-JNB — a dated observation, not a current price. Fares move with season; the route guides show each fare with the date it was found.
Search live fares
7 catalogued corridors into South Africa means a live search will return several routings for the same dates; the lowest cached floor across them in our weekly snapshot was $77 — a dated observation, not a current price. Dates move the price more than any other variable. Fares across all 7 of those corridors are quoted in USD on this site so origins in different African markets stay comparable on one page.
Search flights to South Africa on Aviasales ->
Three checks make results comparable. Fix passenger count and cabin before comparing, because a per-passenger fare and a total look identical on a results page. Read the elapsed time next to the price — a one-stop routing into South Africa and a nonstop are different products. And check whether the fare includes the checked bag you will actually carry.
Search a whole month rather than a single date where you can. Our weekly fare log shows movement between departure months on these corridors that dwarfs the difference between one booking gate and another, so a flexible-date search does more work than five rigid ones. Where dates cannot move, book earlier instead.