Cape Town to Durban flights |
SouthAfrica.TO survey |
Cape Town to Durban flight prices
1time airline |
British Airways |
Kulula airline |
Mango airways |
Nationwide |
SAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R999 |
R1518 |
R869 |
R639 |
R716 |
R805 |
After the hike in flight prices last week as a result of the Twenty20 cricket, it's good to see a slight moderation of flight prices this week (although they are still higher than average as a result of the school holidays). For once Mango airways isn't sold out of plane tickets, and when they're not sold out they're often the cheapest. The cheapest flight from Cape Town to Durban is Mango airways flight JE362 which leaves Cape Town at 1920 on the 28th September and lands in Durban at 2120. If you're not wanting to squeeze into the Mango airways sardine can, your next best option is the regularly cheap Nationwide airlines.
Emirates cheapest on London to Johannesburg flights
We surveyed prices of flights from London to Johannesburg (return) and Emirates flights were the cheapest:
date |
|||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
£539 |
£746 |
£718 |
£658 |
£464 |
- |
£468 |
£471 |
£489 |
£852 |
£737 |
£739 |
£741 |
British Airways cheapest on London to Cape Town flights
We surveyed prices of flights from London to Cape Town (return) and British Airways flights were the cheapest:
date |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
£579 |
£501 |
£768 |
£522 |
£671 |
£817 |
£531 |
£768 |
£744 |
Kulula's new Lanseria routes
Kulula Airline is currently the only South African airline to be utilising Lanseria airport - this is somewhat surprising as Lanseria airport is no further out of the way than OR Tambo Airport, but charges lower airport taxes (which contributed to the cheapest flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town being from Lanseria Airport in a previous survey). We were therefore heartened to hear that Kulula will be increasing its flights from Lanseria Airport to Cape Town to three per day (from one per day). Kulula.com will also be opening up flights from Lanseria to Durban (2 per day) and flights from Lanseria to Port Elizabeth (1 per day). Kulula is planning on making these flight changes from 29 October 2007.
Kulula airline web traffic
For those interested in statistics, below is a graph which provides an indication of the % of web traffic which Kulula.com is reaching through its website.
Ranking of airline websites in South Africa
Last week we showed you the Skytrax rankings with Kulula, South African Airways and British Airways flights winning some awards. We conducted our own survey to try and establish which of the South African airlines were getting the most web traffic through their sites (which of course translates into ticket sales). In this survey of web traffic of airlines in South Africa, South African Airways easily came out on top but we were surprised that Mango Airlines was in second place, and that 1Time airline ranked so poorly (indeed, they get less web traffic than www.southafrica.TO).
Turkish Airlines plans to fly to South Africa
Turkish Airlines plans to start flights from Istanbul to Johannesburg and flights to Cape Town via Johannesburg from the 17th September. However, they must still add Cape town and Johannesburg to their website - their website does not yet allow one to make online bookings to or from Cape Town or Johannesburg.
SouthAfrica.TO on facebook
SouthAfrica.TO has set up a presence on Facebook.com; navigate to South Africa Cheap Flights to join our group.
ACSA - let's dismantle this couldn't-care-less monopoly
Witness how competition has transformed the airline industry over the last 10 years - not everybody may like low-cost carriers like Kulula, Nationwide and 1Time but they provide travellers with an option, and together with price comparison sites (like SouthAfrica.TO) have driven flight prices down. However, travellers are still subject to abject service at ACSA's airports (high levels of theft, security lapses, slow baggage handling and frequent late arrival of the disembarkation equipment). SouthAfrica.TO is a staunch advocate of the dismantling of the ACSA monopoly.
New schedule for Etihad Airways flights to Johannesburg
From October, Etihad Airways is changing its flight times from Johannesburg to Abu Dhabi to improve connecting times for South Africans; allowing flights from Johannesburg to London connecting at Abu Dhabi within an hour - the fastest transfer time on a flight from Johannesburg to London via the Middle East. Etihad flies daily flights from Johannesburg to Abu Dhabi, and four of them will be switching to overnight services.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays Etihad flight EY601 leaves Johannesburg at 2120 and arrives in Abu Dhabi at 0710. |
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On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, Etihad flight EY603 leaves Johannesburg at 1025 and arrives in Abu Dhabi at 2015. |
|
On Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays Etihad flight EY602 leaves Abu Dhabi at 1335 and arrives in Johannesburg at 1935. |
|
On Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays Etihad flight EY600 leaves Abu Dhabi at 0255 and arrives in Johannesburg at 2055. |
Etihad flights between Johannesburg and Abu Dhabi are in an Airbus A330-200.
International flying news
Cheaper flight prices from London to New York
With airlines like Eos and Silverjet (specialist business class airlines) having dropped their flight prices, there are now cheaper flight prices from London to New York (on average). British Airways flights are no longer cheapest from London to New York - the honours now goes to Zoom Airways.
London to Paris cheaper
Although British Airways flights are now less costly than last week, it's cheaper from London to Paris with National Express.
Thomsonfly flights
We have set up a list of routes for Thomsonfly flights (Thomsonfly is well known for its flights to holiday destinations).
Email faux pas of note
A couple wrote to Spirit Airlines (in the USA) asking for $377 compensation as they had missed a concert as a result of their Spirit flight being delayed by 3 hours. The couple then emailed Ben Baldanza (Spirit airline's chief executive) directly, copying a number of Spirit airline employees on the email.
Spirit's email challenged chief executive hit the “reply to all” in his reply which went as follows: “We owe him nothing as far as I’m concerned. Let him tell the world how bad we are. He’s never flown us before anyway and will be back when we save him a penny.”
Russian tries to purchase B52 at airshow
Much to some Russian billionaires dismay, some things are just not for sale. At an airshow near Moscow, an unidentified Russian approached shocked US pilots asking to purchase their B52 bomber. On being told that the bomber was not for sale but that if it was it would cost $500m the Russian replied "That is no problem. It is such a cool machine."
Kang Pacific Airlines
Paul Kang, an Indian businessman, is about to launch the United Arab Emirates' 5th airline - Kang Pacific Airlines. The other 4 are Etihad, Emirates flights, RAK Airline and Air Arabia. Kang Pacific Airlines will be based in the eastern most emirate, Fujairah.
Ryanair's boss - a "ruthless businessman"
An Irish fella popped by to purchase a fridge from the owners of the SouthAfrica.TO website; and when the topic moved on to Michael O'Leary (the top dog at Ryanair flights) he was described as being "a highly successful but ruthless businessman". In addition O'Leary is the ultimate opportunist - in 2004 he purchased a taxi licence for his Mercedez, so that he could drive in Dublin's bus lane and avoid the traffic jams!
Want to read more about Michael O'Leary - biography by Alan Ruddock is a great read - "A Life in Full Flight
Ryanair flights are the greatest of the low cost carriers. Their latest move in the last week is to start charging a 3 Euro fee to anybody who wants to check-in at the airport (as opposed to checking in on the web for free)...and everybody who is a non-EU citizen (like South Africans) have to check in...grrrrr.
New flight routes
Are you a Glaswegian or based in Glasgow and looking for a different European holiday? We are now covering flights from Glasgow to Dalaman (Turkey), flights from Glasgow to Bodrum (Turkey), flights from Glasgow to Alicante (Spain), flights from Glasgow to Bourgas (in Bulgaria), flights from Glasgow to Corfu (Greece) and flights from Glasgow to Paphos (in Cyprus).
SAS Norge has always operated flights from London to Oslo, but from Heathrow Airport. On Tuesday the 28th August they flew their inaugural flight from London City to Oslo. From Mondays to Fridays, SAS Norge will be operating twice daily flights from London City to Oslo, thereby strengthening the business connections between the cities.
British Airways flights sale
British Airways flights sale - British Airways are holding their annual September sale.
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