This is how much it will cost to travel to Durban and Cape Town in December

With flight ticket prices skyrocketing, driving or taking a bus may be the only affordable way to travel this December. 

Since the suspension and grounding of Comair flights, which operated kulula and local and regional British Airways flights, flight prices have increased quickly and are only expected to drop after February 2023.

Before Covid-19, SA had several domestic airlines in operation. Kulula, British Airways, SA Express and Mango have all been grounded or liquidated, leaving us with FlySafair, CemAir, Lift and Airlink. 

FlySafair chief marketing officer Kirby Gordon said soaring flight prices were due to demand and supply.

Gordon said the “stumbling block” of Comair's liquidation in June set the industry back to between 900,000 and 1-million seats a month.

TimesLIVE crunched the numbers to see how much it will cost you to travel to Durban and Cape Town by car, bus and plane in 2022, and how that compares with last year.

By plane

The cheapest one-way flight from Johannesburg to Durban will cost you R631 on FlySafair on December 13. This excludes the cost for checked luggage, which is weighed and billed separately.

In 2021, a Johannesburg to Durban flight on the same airline started from R821 for a one-way ticket. 

The cheapest one-way flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town will cost you R1,532 on FlySafair on December 31. This excludes the cost for checked luggage, which is weighed and billed separately.

In 2021, a flight on this route started from R1,121 for a one-way ticket. 

Flight prices differ across airlines and depend on the date and time of travel and demand.

By bus

Similar to flights, bus prices differ depending on which company you travel with. 

According to Computicket, the cheapest bus ticket from Johannesburg to Durban costs R300 and leaves on a Wednesday. 

The cheapest bus ticket from Johannesburg to Cape Town costs R450 and also leaves on a Wednesday. 

In 2021, the cheapest one-way trip from Johannesburg to Durban cost about R260, and to Cape Town it cost between R390 and R410.

By car

Using one of the country’s most popular vehicles, the Volkswagen Polo Vivo, a trip from Johannesburg to Durban is about 565km and takes about six hours via the N3. 

According to the manufacturer, a full tank of petrol should get you from Johannesburg to Durban.

The 1.4 Trendline Polo Vivo comes with a 45l tank which means a full tank of 93 unleaded at R23.16/l will cost R1,042, and 95 unleaded at R23.46/l will cost you R1,055. 

Using the same car to Cape Town, the 1,398km trip takes about 15 hours via the N1.

Last year, a driver of the same vehicle would have spent R20.07/l on petrol over December, putting the full tank price at about R903.

Toll tariffs are determined by the size of the vehicle. The Polo Vivo falls under class 1 so its total is R379.50 for a complete trip to Durban. Tolls will cost you R667.70 for a complete trip to Cape Town. 

TimesLIVE