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Find cheap flights to South Africa from $811

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from Australia to South Africa departing on 13/5. Fares are subject to change and may not be available on all flights or dates of travel. Click the price to replicate the search for this deal.
1 adult
Thu 18/4
Thu 25/4

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Best South Africa Flight Deals

Cheapest return prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours

Johannesburg
Johannesburgdirect$1,310
Cape Town
Cape Town2 stops$1,790

Good to know

Low season

July

High season

December

Cheapest flight

$811
Best time to beat the crowds but there is an average 10% increase in price.
Most popular time to fly (34% more expensive on average)
Flight from Perth to Johannesburg

FAQs - booking South Africa flights

  • Which is a convenient airport for Robben Island?

    Robben Island is a top attraction in South Africa. You may not find a direct flight from Australia to the destination, but flying to Cape Town International Airport is convenient. You can then take a car or ferry, which takes roughly 30min to reach the site.

  • Which airport is close to Soweto?

    O.R. Tambo International Airport is an ideal destination if you’re flying from Australia to South Africa to visit Soweto. You can then take a train or bus to the destination. Taking a shuttle would also be ideal, as it only takes roughly 33min to reach Soweto.

  • Which holidays affect flights to South Africa?

    South Africa celebrates various annual holidays that could impact your travel. Most of these holidays, such as Heritage Day, celebrate cultural diversity and the country’s history, attracting thousands of tourists. Fares often hike due to high demand, so be sure to book in advance or consider alternative dates.

  • Can I bring my pet when flying to South Africa?

    It’s important that you check your airline’s policies to choose what suits best when travelling with a pet. Qantas allows service animals in the passenger cabin while other pets travel in a dedicated area in the aircraft. Singapore Airlines allow emotional support pets on board, free of charge, and other pets as checked luggage.

  • What are the major airports in South Africa?

    There are several major international airports in South Africa, dotted across the country. The O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) and Lanseria International Airport (HLA) both serve Pretoria and Johannesburg, the King Shaka International Airport (DUR) is located near Duban, and the Cape Town International Airport (CPT) is about an hour out of Cape Town in Matroosfontein.

  • Where should I fly into to explore South Africa?

    South Africa is a large country and the most efficient way to explore everything the country has to offer is to fly between the main centres. South Africa’s biggest airport is the O.R. Tambo in Johannesburg. From here you will be able to connect to many domestic flights all over the country, as well as explore the sites of one of South Africa’s major cities. However, the most centrally placed large city in South Africa is Bloemfontein, serviced by the Bram Fischer International Airport (BFN)

  • Does South Africa have any local airlines?

    There is a wide range of airlines based in South Africa. South Africa’s major airline is South African Airways which also flies internationally. Due to the country’s historic ties with the UK, British Airways also has a strong presence in South Africa, particularly in Johannesburg. SA Express and SA Airlink also offer a range of flights throughout Southern Africa.

  • How do I travel around South Africa on a budget?

    The most popular budget airline in South Africa for locals and tourists alike is Kulula. Often fondly referred to as the green dragon, it flies to many of South Africa’s major ports. The bright orange Mango Airlines is another good alternative, as is FlySafair, the budget airline owned by Safair. To help you get around South Africa, you can combine your flights with the various regional bus services including Greyhound, Intercape, and Baz Bus.

  • How long is the flight to South Africa?

    An average direct flight from Australia to South Africa takes 31h 24m, covering a distance of 16746 km. The most popular route is Sydney - Johannesburg with an average flight time of 14h 00m.

  • What is the cheapest flight to South Africa?

    The cheapest ticket to South Africa from Australia found in the last 72 hours was $748 one-way, and $1,463 round-trip. The most popular route is Sydney Kingsford Smith to Johannesburg OR Tambo and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $1,574.

  • Which airlines fly to South Africa?

    EL AL & Qantas Airways fly the most frequently from Australia to South Africa.

  • What are the most popular destinations in South Africa?

    The next most popular destinations are Cape Town (42%) and Durban (4%). Searches for flights to Hoedspruit (0.9%), to Pietermaritzburg (0.9%) and to Port Elizabeth (0.7%) are also popular.

  • How does KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a given destination and date is likely to change within 7 days, so travellers know whether to wait or book now.

See more FAQs

Top tips for finding cheap flights to South Africa

  • Enter your preferred departure airport and travel dates into the search form above to unlock the latest South Africa flight deals.
  • Qatar Airways, Virgin Australia, South African Airways and Etihad Airways operate flights on this route. Virgin Australia offers competitive prices and flexibility to popular destinations in South Africa. There are typically four classes available: Economy Classic, Economy Delight, Premium and Upper Class. You can also enjoy a comfortable and hospitable trip to South Africa with Etihad Airways.
  • It is wise to choose your arrival airport based on your final destination in South Africa and the price. If you want to stay or travel around Johannesburg, O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) will be a good bet because of its proximity to several destinations and accommodation options. Alternatively, Cape Town International Airport (CPT) is a good choice to access the South African business hub.
  • From Australia, the easiest locations in South Africa to fly to are Johannesburg and Cape Town. You can find flights to these cities from Melbourne, Brisbane, or Sydney with only one stopover.
  • There are many long-haul carriers that offer flights from Australia to South Africa such as Etihad Airways, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Cathay Pacific. If you want to fly local, Qantas Airlines offers flights to Johannesburg.
  • Surfers and sea-lovers looking to enjoy the southern coast can either fly into Cape Town International Airport (CPT) or Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ). Between the major cities are plenty of coastline and many popular surfing locations. It takes approximately 8h to drive from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth.
  • If you’re looking to enjoy the natural reserves and safari parks in South Africa, Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga is a good option. This area is served by the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (MQP), or many travel from Johannesburg, which is a 3 to 4h drive to Nelspruit.
  • Australian passport holders will not need a visa to enter South Africa whether you’re travelling as a tourist or on business, provided your stay is only for up to 90 days. However, you will need to pay a tourism or visa fee on entry into South Africa.
See more tips

Top 5 airlines flying to South Africa

Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Australia to South Africa? KAYAK airline reviews give an overall score for each airline based on loads of factors, including comfort, boarding, in-flight entertainment and more, to make your decision easier. See airline scores according to KAYAK reviews.
8.2
Singapore AirlinesOverall score based on 1520 reviews
78food
87crew
83overall
84boarding
81comfort
82entertainment
Airline reviews

Perfect experience from boarding through to leaving the flight, comfortable and personalised service from all staff, highly recommended

Read more about Singapore Airlines

Perfect experience from boarding through to leaving the flight, comfortable and personalised service from all staff, highly recommended

They were able to assist my elderly father and myself after not being able to check in to scoot. The counter service was phenomenal. They did what they could to get us on the next plane so we could catch our Connecting flight. Scoot closed early on us so we ended up missing our flight.

I did not like anything. Flight experience was bad overall.

The stewardess was very helpful all the way. My seat had an issue with headphones and after the replaced and gave me a new pair and noticed it was the seat I got a new chair to sit and a great ride back home

The overall operation needs to be improved. The in-flight services took forever and sometimes ran out of options.

Always on time. Clean and good service as always..great food too..thank you SQ, the best airline in the world👍👍👍

I cancelled my family 2023 international vacation because you guys double booked me with the same date, passengers, airlines and just hours difference and did not want to refund me at the right time and then finally cancelled the extra booking! Cancelling the booking that I personally booked! And you guys kept the unauthorized booking! This experience was really bad! Ruined everything! Never again I will book with kayak , me , my family , my friends and most importantly I will advocate to everyone to make sure not to book with Kayak! None existing customers service! Only 3rd provider that serve only their company and not the travelers!!!!!!

Airport lounge for business class is too crowded and not comfortable. Poor foods and facilities. Boarding was delayed. A lot of coughing people in the flight even in the business class, which indicated poor screening and health risks.

The crew was so kind! I had such a nice flight !

Sleep pods in SilverKris lounge are disappointing, showers are great though. Food decent, not amazing. Need more toilets in lounge ideally. Flight was good but service can be better.

Staff were friendly, and provided great service. The food was plentiful and delicious. Food could have been hotter.

Seat and leg space is much better than the Qatar airline. The crew I would like to say is not meeting the requirements of emirates airlines cause it almost 20 years I am flying with emirates this time I really feel that crew is not behaving well someone asked for water waited more than 30 minutes and there are more incidents in this flight.

I was traveling business purposes and I only had one carry on and a personal computer back pack . My carry on was 8.5 kg little more than allowable. At jfk airport check in they did not let me carry it . I was little disappointed.

Excellent airlines. I highly recommend using Emirates. Its my number 1 airlines

Quality and tasty Food and service, bigger seat comfort and leg room, etc.

The service was fantastic. Not much could be done better

On both legs of my trips (Jhb - Dxb and Dxb - Jhb) the entertainment system did not work.

Provide latest releases in Movies as they used to do.

Some how there was a miscommunication between JetBlue and kayak because my flight was canceled with JetBlue through kayak. I would not have know my flight was canceled unless I had called to verify exactly when my flight was. There was poor communication between kayak and JetBlue and I will never book with neither company every again.

It was also a great experience except to the inconvenience of connecting flights since we need to took buses to go to another terminal and the boarding was easy but if you manage to find the terminal in time. Still it was a great experience with Kayak and Emirates.

The flight met my expectations. It left and landed on time

Everything as good as can be if one flies economy bit not enough toilets!! People were queuing during the whole flight - there are really not enough toilets!!!

Flights delayed multiple times, travellers requests for updates ignored. Qantas continues to desatisfy travelling basics.

They actually held the plane for a few minutes and had someone at the escalators from Qantas checking to see if we were almost at the gate and radioed ahead to tell them that we were on our way. We called down to the person and gave her our names, coming as fast as we could.

Better food, hotter coffee, otherwise it was a very smooth and reasonably comfortable flight.

First time flying in Qantas. There is zero WiFi on the flight to/from Australia. Crew was great both routes - very attentive, personalized service. Pleasant staff throughout.

Packed flight. Urged to check carry-on before boarding only to discover numerous empty overhead bins after boarding. Challenging entertainment screen. After almost 20 minutes to arrive at baggage claim, waited over 30 mins before luggage was loaded on baggage claim carousel.

Grubby plane, dirty seat & table, poor food, wait for baggage, staff ok.

The plane was new (<6mos old) and was very well appointed. Lots of places to store things/plenty of legroom/comfortable seats/great blankets and headsets. Food was very good too. And crew were all very friendly and accommodating. Great trip!

We were delayed for 7 hours. The staff and management could have organized the getting of seats on later flight earlier than 20 minutes before late takeoff. Everyone was worried and lost. Was chaos and it didn’t need to be.

I found it weird that the quality of the flight different from Australia to Doha than the Doha to Berlin leg. The quality of the toiletries pack (was in a box from Australia) and then a proper bag from Doha. The biggest variation was the inflight entertainment, which had a significantly shorter amount of content compared to the Doha flight. My QSuite seat was also broken and did not recline all the way flat. Wasn’t the best and I wouldn’t be happy if I’d paid cash for the flight.

To many ads. 3 or 4 between each movie. All repetitive, all related to Doha which I was just passing thru.

Just money making business. This was my fourth journey with Qatar Airways, year by year the quality of service getting poor. Food is very cheap. They have some low quality alcohol beverages. They don’t have any brandy or cognac. No toilet around the gate lounge. We have to wait until getting to the flight for use toilet.very long standing for entering into the flight. We can see the old passenger suffering.

I had already opted for Vegan food before 2 months yet they say we have no record for it,

They have misplaced my one checked bag which I have not received in Philadelphia and have lodged complaint with American Airlines, the staff of Indigo was rude with us, at the checking counter, I think she purposely withheld my one of the checked bag, because the American Airlines staff told me that bag was not received at Doha airport. Kindly help me with one of my checked bag to get it. My flight was from Mumbai to Doha and then Doha to Philadelphia.

I liked the overall service and comfort. The only annoying thing was paying for excess baggage at the airport. They have limited options and they don't take all cards.

Asian Veng meal have Non Veg items which is not ok. Pure veg meals option are too less and they have inclusion of Vedgan and Lactos etc... which is taste less

After going through security and waiting for the flight at the gate, there was no access to bathrooms and no place to charge a phone while waiting for the flight. But once I was on the plane, everything was very good.

Very bad. We booked 8 months in advance for 2 people but couldn’t get seats together. Food was so bad I couldn’t even eat.

Better service is needed. I booked for Qatar but I was switched to American way after I bought my tickets.

Seat in front of my wife was broken so it reclined further than normal and without having to push the recline button so my wife had absolutely no room the entire 17 hour flight. My seat was broken and wouldn't recline at all. Also.. my tray table was sticky and dirty right away before I even used it. Also...the floor in the back of the plane from our row of seats on back was totally soaked and both times we landed water came rushing out of the food/servant area like a flood onto the same already wet carpet. It got everything wet that was placed around our feet...including our shoes and socks.

Luggage delayed for one day. I called customer service, and they had no info and no empathy. Boarding was very disorganized and chaotic. We went nearly 7 hours with no food or snacks on the flight. This is not an airline that has respect for its passengers.

The entertainment (movies) blockbuster and classics never change. I am a frequent Ethiopian flyer and this should be addressed. Not much changed from my summer flight and my December flight. It is annoying - surely you can update the selections more often. Same with food options. It becomes extremely boring to be offered the same exact meals from Washington to Addis to Maputo every trip, each time. AS

Entertainment was very poor. Couldn’t watch anything. Ear pieces were the wrong type .

Food was horrible. Our flight was not comfortable due to turbulence, seats was not comfortable, Very tight barely can not move anywhere.

The check in staff was amazing. Best customer service! The plane was old! My entertainment on the first flight didn't work at all, in my seat or in the seat next to me. The bathroom doors were old and troublesome. One of the bathrooms, the whole sink panel was broken. Everything felt old and falling apart. The airline stewardesses were amazing and quite hospitable. When there were delays, they kept us well informed. Transit was GREAT! I wasn't sure how I would make it to my next flight in 1 1/2 hours but the security lines were short and efficient. The C gates in Addis Ababa were CROWDED! That whole space downstairs was too crowded and challenging to manuever. I usually fly Ethiopian within Africa and was interested to see how the experience would be intercontinental. Overall, I would choose it again if it was cheaper than Delta/Air France or Lufthansa/KLM. I wouldn't make it a first choice if the prices were the same because the planes are so old! The food and entertainment also weren't as good. Good selection of movies but as I mentioned, on the first flight they didn't work at all (I slept so it was okay) and the 2nd flight it was glitchy. All in all, I didn't hate it but it would be a first choice only if it's cheaper.

The wifi service was really poor I try to use it the service was extremely poor if that could be improved that will go a long way

The food really sucks And they really need to work on entertainment The movie selection is herendous .

The seats were quite uncomfortable despite having good legroom. The 350s are quite nice but the problem is on the old 777 aircraft. Special meal requests are not catered for as they should. They never had any ice for drinks.

Pros: "Crew and stewardess were fantastic"
Cons: "Bathrooms needed cleaning on the long trip from Addis Ababa to Houston! They were nasty because guys can’t seem to hit the hole. So there was urine on seat and on floor."

Book Cheap South Africa Plane Tickets

Recent return flight deals

13/5Mon
directSouth African
10h 55mPER-JNB
26/5Sun
directSouth African
9h 25mJNB-PER
$1,310
8/5Wed
directSouth African
10h 55mPER-JNB
28/5Tue
directSouth African
9h 25mJNB-PER
$1,321
11/5Sat
1 stopQatar Airways
24h 15mPER-JNB
31/5Fri
1 stopQatar Airways
23h 00mJNB-PER
$1,827
11/5Sat
1 stopQatar Airways
24h 15mPER-JNB
3/6Mon
1 stopQatar Airways
23h 00mJNB-PER
$1,834
6/6Thu
directQantas Airways
14h 40mSYD-JNB
26/6Wed
directQantas Airways
11h 50mJNB-SYD
$1,845
20/7Sat
1 stopSingapore Airlines
35h 00mPER-JNB
25/8Sun
1 stopSingapore Airlines
28h 10mJNB-PER
$1,857
5/6Wed
directQantas Airways
14h 40mSYD-JNB
6/3Thu
directQantas Airways
12h 10mJNB-SYD
$1,900
5/6Wed
2 stopsEmirates
38h 25mSYD-JNB
6/3Thu
2 stopsEmirates
51h 40mJNB-SYD
$1,926
16/6Sun
1 stopSingapore Airlines
35h 00mPER-JNB
31/7Wed
1 stopSingapore Airlines
28h 10mJNB-PER
$1,940
23/4Tue
2 stopsEmirates
43h 00mSYD-JNB
13/5Mon
2 stopsEmirates
33h 00mJNB-SYD
$1,946

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Recent one-way flight deals

13/5Mon
3 stops
44h 10mPER-JNB
$811
13/4Sat
3 stops
48h 15mPER-JNB
$890
23/7Tue
1 stopSingapore Airlines
38h 15mPER-CPT
$1,137
4/6Tue
1 stopQantas Airways
18h 10mAVV-JNB
$1,202
4/6Tue
directQantas Airways
14h 40mSYD-JNB
$1,208
8/6Sat
1 stopSingapore Airlines
35h 00mPER-JNB
$1,214
20/4Sat
1 stopQatar Airways
24h 30mPER-CPT
$1,315
3/4Wed
2 stopsQatar Airways
36h 10mMEL-JNB
$1,434
2/5Thu
2 stopsEmirates
45h 50mMEL-JNB
$1,574
2/4Tue
2 stopsEmirates
39h 50mMEL-JNB
$1,582

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Last minute flights to South Africa

Last minute flight, train and bus deals

23/3Sat
multi-stopQatar Airways
24h 50mPER-CPT
30/3Sat
multi-stopQatar Airways
42h 40mCPT-PER
$1,973
21/3Thu
multi-stop
35h 05mMEL-CPT
18/5Sat
multi-stop
31h 45mCPT-MEL
$1,979
21/3Thu
multi-stopQatar Airways
29h 20mMEL-CPT
18/5Sat
multi-stopQatar Airways
26h 30mCPT-MEL
$2,005
21/3Thu
multi-stopQatar Airways
29h 20mMEL-CPT
18/5Sat
multi-stopQatar Airways
26h 30mCPT-MEL
$2,010
24/3Sun
multi-stopEmirates
46h 10mMEL-JNB
30/3Sat
multi-stopEmirates
26h 30mJNB-MEL
$2,058
24/3Sun
multi-stopEmirates
50h 25mMEL-JNB
30/3Sat
multi-stopEmirates
24h 55mJNB-MEL
$2,066
20/3Wed
multi-stopSingapore Airlines
41h 50mMEL-CPT
18/5Sat
multi-stopSingapore Airlines
39h 10mCPT-MEL
$2,784
22/3Fri
multi-stopSingapore Airlines
38h 15mPER-CPT
30/3Sat
multi-stopSingapore Airlines
22h 00mCPT-PER
$3,032
24/3Sun
multi-stopMalaysia Airlines
36h 30mMEL-JNB
30/3Sat
multi-stopMalaysia Airlines
33h 30mJNB-MEL
$8,313
20/3Wed
multi-stopCathay Pacific
41h 55mBNE-CPT
12/4Fri
multi-stopCathay Pacific
37h 15mCPT-BNE
$9,472

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