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The Cape Town to Durban flight route is the quietest of South Africa's so-called golden triangle (CPT-JHB-DUR), with South African Airways even pulling out of the route as they couldn't turn a profit on it. The good news is that all of Kulula, Mango Airlines and British Airways still fly the route; and the even better news is that SA Express started flying CPT to King Shaka. To get on a cheap flight from Cape Town to Durban, use the flight bookings engine on the left to compare all airlines' airfares.
* Prices are constantly updated, so the information listed above is out of date and for information purposes only.
When you make a booking on the SAA website, you're either going to be flying on Mango Airlines or SA Express (SAA don't fly the route).
A flight from Cape Town to King Shaka takes more or less 2 hours.
You save at least 13 hours by flying instead of driving.
Driving north of Lesotho onto the N1 is marginally longer (1658m) but quicker than taking the N2 along the wild coast (1651km).
As the Mossie (Cape Sparrow) flies, it is 1278km from Kimberley to CT.
Kulula, British Airways Comair & Mango Airlines fly B737-800s on the route (copycats), but SAX flies CR2s (Bombardier CRJ200). So, if you want a smaller plane feel, then fly with SA Express to Durban (CR2s accommodation some 50).
Kulula advertises the quickest flight times from CT to King Shaka (125m), whilst SAX and Mango take the longest (135m).
Flights to Durban are all to King Shaka International Airport.
Airlines |
Airports |
Stops |
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Cape Town to Durban International Airport (DUR) |
non-stop (2h 10m) |
|
non-stop (2h 05m) |
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non-stop (2h 15m) |
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Cape Town to Durban International Airport (DUR) |
non-stop (2h 15m) |
|
Cape Town to Durban International Airport (DUR) |
non-stop (2h 15m) |
|
Note that flights booked on the SAA website involve a codeshare with Mango & SA Express - SAA itself does not fly from Cape Town to Durban. |
travel date |
British Airways |
Kulula |
Mango |
FlySafair |
SA Express |
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FlySafair provided the cheapest flight to the Durban July for the 6th of July 2018. |
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1785 |
1502 |
1410 |
999 |
- |
Airlines update their flight prices constantly, so the information listed above is out of date. To find the cheapest airline or bus with which to travel from Cape Town to Durban, you'll need to check the current flight prices.
Shosholoza Meyl train |
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travel date |
Economy class |
Tourist Class |
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The cheapest option for travel from Cape Town to Durban was with Shosholoza Meyl's economy class train |
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2480 |
630 |
710 |
750 |
- |
680 |
720 |
590 |
1020 |
Note that the Baz Bus is targeted specifically to the backpacker market and is a hop-on hop-off door-to-door transport network and is not therefore directly comparable with other mainland bus services.
*Unless it's actually the day of the flight special you're unlikely to obtain these prices (and then only usually only available for a few hours), but these were the latest specials each of the airlines offered from Cape Town to Durban.
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Kulula special |
Mango special |
|
- |
- |
- |
As an alternative to flying from Cape Town to Durban; you could travel by road, rail or even sea.
An alternative is to drive from Cape Town to Durban. It's relatively easy as there's only one road you need to follow, you would take the N2 national Road (the longest national road in South Africa), which stretches all the way from Cape Town to Durban (you'll drive through 3 of South Africa's provinces - the Western Cape Province, Eastern Cape Province and KwaZulul-Natal Province). Along the way you'll pass the towns of Swellendam, Mossel Bay, George, Knysna, Port Elizabeth and East London, Mthatha, Kokstad and Port Shepstone. Attractions along the route include:
bungi jumping on the Gouritz River bridge (just before Mossel Bay)
the pristine beaches of Plett (enberg Bay)
World's highest commercial bungi jump off the Bloukrans river, just after Knysna
The beautifully formed waves of Jeffrey's Bay, which attracts surfers from all over the world
Nelson Mandela's birthplace
From DUR to CPT it is 1658km if you pass north of Lesotho onto the N1, and 1651km if you take the N2. The N1 takes at least 17 hours and the N2 at least 19 hours (but you'll want to take breaks, so it'll take longer).
If you don't want to drive yourself, you can catch a bus trip from Durban to Johannesburg:
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.
Spoornet's Shosholoza Meyl operates train trips from Cape Town to Durban, and their central reservations may be contacted at 086 000 8888.
MSC Cruises offers the occassional cruise from Cape Town to Durban, on the MSC Sinfonia and MSC Opera cruise ships.
2 Nov 2011 1time airline files for liquidation and flies its last CPT-DUR flight.
7 Nov 2011 Velvet Sky airline commences Cape Town to Durban flights on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The initial price is R439. The airline would go into liquidation in early 2012.
10 Jan 2011 SA Express starts flying from Cape Town to Durban: "The domestic and regional airline will operate the Durban-CapeTown-Durban route a minimum of 3 times daily during weekdays and 2 times a day during weekends. In order to adequately accommodate customers who frequent this business and leisure route, SA Express has factored in frequency, availability and timing of flights in this addition to its schedule. The flights will initially be operated by a CRJ-200 aircraft".
15 Dec 2010 Comair Limited, begins operating an additional British Airways return flight on the Cape Town to Durban route. The additional BA flight is scheduled once a day from Monday to Friday, adding to the existing schedule of 3 return flights per day, Monday to Friday, and one return flight on Saturday and Sunday. The flight leaves Cape Town for Durban at 13h30, arriving in Durban at 15h25.
1 Nov 2010 SAA Cape Town to Durban flights are stopped. From this point flights booked with SAA from Cape Town to Durban will be flown by Mango Airlines.
Once you arrive, there are a number of options for renting cars at Durban International Airport:
Here's a list of Durban accommodation options.