Intercape JNB to CPT from R580*

Johannesburg to Cape Town flights booked on this page qualify to earn our unique SouthAfrica.TO travel vouchers. Email cheapflights@southafrica.to to let us know how your last flight went & we will email you flight discount vouchers.
Phone Numbers: · Cape Town Airport: 021 937 1200 · Kulula CPT: 021 936 9045/6

SAA flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town Mango flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town Kulula flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town Flights from Lanseria to Cape Town Cape Town in Photos
Ask for Assistance - our travel agents are itching to show you flight specials.
compare airfares	list of airlines	survey prices
flight specials	airport transfers	car rental

Cheap Flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town

It's pretty insane that the Johannesburg to Cape Town flight route (JNB-CPT) is the 10th busiest in the world (which shows that Joburgers and Capetonians really do love each other!). Not bad for a country at the tip of Africa - our economy must be really vibey to support this level of travel.

Think two's when you consider your flight options:

Four budget airlines : Mango Airlines, FlySafair, Kulula and Lift.
Two full service airlines : Airlink & British Airways with two cabin categories (economy & business class). SAA is likely not going to launch domestic routes when it finally resumes operations.
Two international airports in Joburg : Lanseria (HLA) & OR Tambo (JNB), with OR Tambo being the main airport with the most interconnections, and Lanseria being a smaller airport (although often cheaper).

The way to make sure that you book a cheap flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town is by typing your date of departure and return date into the flight quotations and bookings engine and seeing what airfare it spits out, and booking your outbound flight seperately from your return flight (the same airline isn't necessarily cheapest on your outbound as well as your return flight).

* Prices are constantly updated, so the information listed above is out of date and for information purposes only.

Latest Johannesburg to Cape Town airlines survey

We regularly carry out comparisons of airfares of all airlines on Friday afternoons/evenings (when a lot of people want to travel to get away for the weekend). The low cost carriers (Kulula and Mango Airlines) are usually cheapest, but not always! Be sure to also check the prices of South African Airways and BA Comair.

flight date	British Airways	Kulula	Mango	FlySafair	Airlink
Planning a local getaway for the longer school holidays? We've got you covered. Mango is the cheapest airline.
10 Jul 2021	1048	1418	635	781	819

Luxury travel from Johannesburg to Cape Town

travel date	BA business class	Mango Flex	Mango Plus	Airlink business class	Premier Classe train	Blue train
10 Jul 2021	4218	-	-	3464	-	-

Latest Johannesburg to Cape Town bus survey

Prices will change.

Buses							Shosholoza Meyl train
travel date	Baz Bus	City to City	Greyhound	Intercape	Eldo Coaches	Translux	Economy class	Tourist Class
10 Jul 2021	-	-	-	520	470	-	-	-

News

5 July 2021. Adjusted level four lockdown forbids domestic leisure travel to or from Johannesburg.Travellers are only allowed to travel for selected specific reasons like business or a funeral. These restrictions are in place until 11 July 2021, but could be extended. In reaction Kulula, BA and LIFT all suspended services until the end of the month.
1 December 2020. The latest airline to launch on SA's busiest route is Lift. They are quite literally taking off on this route on 10 December 2020. Cape Town - Johannesburg will be their only route starting out, with the airline hoping to expand to include Johannesburg - George flights.
29 July 2014. FlySafair has relaunched flights from OR Tambo to Cape Town. Its first flight is scheduled for the 16th October 2014. They have very low prices available for their launch. Check our FlySafair Specials page for more information.
23 September 2013. FlySafair launches flight sales from OR Tambo to Cape Town. Its first flight was scheduled for the 17th October 2013, but the Pretoria High Court threw a spanner in the works in early October 2013 when it issued a temporary interdict against FlySafair starting operating flights.
27 August 2013. It's announced that FlySafair plans to start Johannesburg to Cape Town flights from end 2013, and to sell tickets from end September 2013.
23 August 2013. SA Express flights to Cape Town from Johannesburg are increased with Friday & Sunday flights leaving OR Tambo International Airport at 14h20.
2013-07-04. The date Fastjet planned to commence flights from Johanesburg to Cape Town, operating under the Federal Airlines license. It was difficult for them to commence operations, so they decided to prioritise international operations.
Mid 2013. Airlink had planned to begin flights from Johannesburg's Grand Central Airport to Cape Town, but it didn't happen.
2 Nov 2012. 1time flies its last JNB-CPT flight, after announcing that it will be filing for liquidation.
2 Jun 2012. 1time airline quits HLA-CPT flights.
5 Mar 2012. 1time begins HLA-CPT flights.
1 Aug 2011. Velvet Sky increases its frequency to 3 flights daily. They would stop flying in early 2012, before going into final liquidation in June 2012.
1 Jun 2011. Mango Airlines flights to Cape Town from Lanseria (Johannesburg), commence.
24 Mar 2011. Velvet Sky's inaugural flight between Johannesburg and Cape Town was at 10h15 on the 24th March 2011.
20 Nov 2009. Interlink Airline quits flying between Johannesburg and Cape Town, and starts flights between Pretoria and Cape Town.
27 Jun 2008. Interlink starts Johannesburg - Cape Town flights.
29 Apr 2008. Nationwide ceases operations.
28 Oct 2008. Kulula increased the frequency of their flights from Johannesburg Lanseria to Cape Town from 20 to 35 flights per week (Sunday flights increase from one to five and weekday flights from 3 to 6).
29 Oct 2007. Kulula Lanseria flights to Cape Town were increased to 3 daily.

Lanseria Airport in Johannesburg

Airlines operating flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town

Airlines	Airports	Stops
British Airways	Johannesburg O.R. Tambo (JNB) to Cape Town International Airport (CPT)	non-stop
FlySafair couldn't get off the ground as the North Gauteng High Court temporarily ruled against them. They are busy restructuring, and attempting to get a new licence.
Kulula Airlines	Johannesburg Lanseria (HLA) to Cape Town International Airport (CPT)	non-stop
Kulula Airlines	Johannesburg O.R. Tambo (JNB) to Cape Town International Airport (CPT)	non-stop
Mango Airlines	Johannesburg O.R. Tambo (JNB) to Cape Town International Airport (CPT)	non-stop
Mango Airlines	Johannesburg Lanseria (HLA) to Cape Town International Airport (CPT)	non-stop
SA Express	Johannesburg O.R. Tambo (JNB) to Cape Town International Airport (CPT)	non-stop
South African Airways	Johannesburg O.R. Tambo (JNB) to Cape Town International Airport (CPT)	non-stop

To fly from Johannesburg to Cape Town takes just over 2 hours, taking you over almost the full stretch of South Africa. The distance between O.R. Tambo and Cape Town is some 1271km and between Lanseria and Cape town is 1265km.

Number of flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town

The Johannesburg to Cape Town flight route is the busiest in South Africa. As at 12 Sep 2011, these were the number of daily flights which each airline operated from Johannesburg to Cape Town:

British Airways	FlySafair	Kulula Airline	Mango Airline	SAA
10 flights	3 flights	7 flights	7 flights	17 flights

Don't want to fly?

Johannesburg to Cape Town by road

An alternative is to drive from Johannesburg to Cape Town. The quickest route is the N1 national Road, which stretches all the way through several of South Africa's provinces, via Bloemfontein, Beaufort West & Worcester. The driving distance from Johannesburg to Cape Town is some 1399km, taking about 16 hours of driving.

View Larger Map

Here's a longer but more interesting route road trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town, which takes about 28 hours of driving. Along the way you'll pass through Bethlehem, Clarens, Ficksburg, Maseru (Lesotho), Mafeteng (Lesotho), Aliwal North, Burgersdorp, Middelburg, Graaff-Reinet, Aberdeen, Willowmore, Oudtshoorn, George, Groot Brakrivier, Klein Brak River, Mossel Bay, Riversdale, Witsand, Bredasdorp, Gansbaai, Hermanus and Kleinmond.

View Larger Map

Johannesburg to Cape Town by bus

If you don't want to drive yourself, you can catch a bus trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town:

Baz Bus	Baz Bus operates a hop-on hop-off bus tour across South Africa, and is especially popular amongst backpackers, stopping off at 180 youth hostels along its route
Greyhound bus	The Greyhound bus operates a traditional bus service through the main centres of South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe (Bloemfontein, Bulawayo, Butterworth, Cape Town, Durban, East London, Empangeni, Harare, Johannesburg, Kimberley, Nelspruit, Newcastle, Maputo, Mossel Bay, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria, Queenstown, Swinburne and Umtata)
Intercape bus	The Intercape bus operates a traditional bus service across a vast network of South Africa and some of its neighbouring countries.

Johannesburg to Cape Town by train

Spoornet's Shosholoza Meyl operates train trips from Johannesburg to Cape Town, and their central reservations may be contacted at 086 000 8888. Alternatively, take the Premier Classe train from Johannesburg to Cape Town (also 086 000 8888).

Flight reviews

"We traveled with my friend on the Valentine week to Cape Town from Johannesburg attending a high profile wedding of Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa, and the CEO of the National Empowerment fund, Philisiwe Mthethwa. After loads of fun, stolen spot light on us from our regalias...covering the wedding for the Destiny magazine Cover story we had on 2 hour sleep. The following day we managed to get to the airport 45 minutes before the flight departure and the self check in machine declined us - we then rushed to the check-in counter. Our names were not found....our return was supposed to be the 17th February...but we had booked for the 17th March and all the flights to Johannesburg from Cape Town were full. I was very emotional because the flights were booked by my friend...she was nervous not knowing what to do. I had very important commitments, a performance to do with my band at Moyo Zoolake, and on that morning my younger sister was moved to ICU at Johannesburg Hospital...I would have even accepted being checked in as a luggage bag! I decided to take the responsibility that it was also my duty to double check the traveling itinerary. Then we were both relieved, as we managed to get to Johannesburg by an intercity bus the following day. We changed our tickets to travel from East London to Johannesburg on the 21st April paying some R360 additional costs for both of us. On the 21st April at 5pm I received a phone call with an Eastern Cape code......'Miss Jessica Mbangeni are you are aware that your flight is leaving in 30 minutes time from East London airport...?' It was after I had read poetry at the Inspirational Women's Networking Event at Michelangelo Hotel in Sandton....for a minute I was puzzled...The ticket sales person offered to change our flights again but for free this time.....no additional funds to be paid... Whooop! This time we will not forget...."
Instead of taking the conventional drive along the N2, these tourists took the more scenic route from Johannesburg to Cape Town; stopping at Clarens, Aliwal North, Graaff Reinet, Knysna and Hermanus. On this route they took in the Drakensberg outside Clarens (the art-centre of the Free State) and the Valley of Desolation in Graaff Reinet's Camdeboo National Park. Here's a photo of Victoria Bay they took:

Victoria Bay in South Africa

Airport shuttle services

There are a number of companies offering an airport shuttle services in Cape Town, but our favourite is EZ Shuttle. EZ Shuttle is not usually the cheapest, but they offer a reliable service.