Cheap flights survey |
29 June 2007 flights |
Comparison of flight prices from Johannesburg to Cape Town
1time is cheapest.
1time airline |
British Airways |
Kulula Airline |
Mango Airline |
Nationwide |
SAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R499 |
R728 |
R599 |
R549 |
R869 |
R1292 |
1time comes in cheapest
At last somebody has unseated Nationwide Airlines as the cheapest in our Cheap Flights Survey. On the 2nd June 2007, we examined flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town leaving on the 29th June 2007 between 1819 and 2036; and 1Time flight 1T115, costing R499, was the cheapest; the flight leaves Johannesburg at 1830 and arrives in Cape Town at 2040.
British Airways offers cheapest full service
Coming in at R728, a full R564 cheaper than South African Airways, British Airways offers the cheapest full service flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town.
Flight prices on the up
The last Cheap Flights Survey of flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town was the 21 April 2007 Cheap Flights Survey, in which the average cost of a flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town was R705 - the cost of the same flight now averages R756. This reflects an increase of 7% in flight prices over a 6 week period, or an annualised increase rate of 86% - something else for the Governor of the Reserve Bank to chew over when he decides on interest rates.
Should we punish frequent flyers?
Regular readers know that SouthAfrica.TO supports keeping your flying to a minimum (which is probably a bit surprising for an airline site!), as a result of the massive amounts of carbon which airplanes spew out. We were interested to read that Mark Ellingham, who is famed for creating the "Rough Guides to..." series of books, is on the same side of the fence as us: "If the travel industry rosily goes ahead as it is doing, ignoring the effect that carbon emissions from flying are having on climate change, we are putting ourselves in a very similar position to the tobacco industry."
More parking for Cape Town International
There's rapid expansion going on at Cape Town International Airport. In 2006 a first multi storey parkade was completed but this capacity was quickly used up, and plans are to introduce a 2nd multi storey parkade, resulting in 2000 more parking bays being made available.
Wanna fly pink?
Pink painted aircraft are about to become a more common sight in the skies. Flypink Airline is a new airline operating flights from Liverpool to Paris, offering shopping trips (yes!) for ladies (and men so inclined)...of course shopping flights to Johannesburg is something long pioneered by Grace Mugabe.
Qantas to add a flight to Johannesburg
Qantas is to add one extra flight per week between Sydney and Johannesburg from November 2008, bringing their total flights to Johannesburg to 6 per week; this is still subject to Government negotiation and approval. Qantas aim to eventually offer daily flights between Sydney and Johannesburg.
Emirates to add 4 flights to Johannesburg
From the 1st June 2007, Air Emirates is adding four weekly flights between Dubai and Johannesburg, increasing its existing double-daily Johannesburg service to triple daily on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (i.e. total flights increase from 14 per week to 18 per week). In SouthAfrica.TO's experience, Emirates is well worth a call when looking for the cheapest flights. The flights will be operated by Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
Boeing 777
The first flight of a 777 aircraft was on the 14th June 1994. Boeing's 777 is the first commercial aircraft to be designed entirely on a computer, with no paper drawings ever being produced! Boeing wanted to create a customer-orientated aircraft, and consulted 8 of the major airlines when developing the plane - American Airlines, ANA, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta Airlines, JAL, Qantas and United Airlines (Qantas is the only of the airlines consulted which did not order the 777). The 777-300ER is recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as having the world's most powerful jet engine in terms of thrust, and was first flown on the 24th February 2003. Because Boeing's 777-300ER has engines that produce more thrust and weighs a bit more, it is slightly less fuel efficient than the regular 777-300. The 777-300ER carries 427 passengers.
Boeing's 777 is the only major aircraft never to have suffered a hull loss (i.e. an accident so bad that the plane had to be written off). The most serious in-flight incidence involving a 777 occurred on the 17th December 2005, when an engine on a 777 Air France flight failed, en-route from Seoul to Paris, resulting in an unscheduled landing in Irkutsk, Siberia.
Emirates working the online market
Airline tickets are sold online. Carriers like British Airways, Air France & Virgin Atlantic have long cottoned onto this fact, and set up extensive internet marketing campaigns. Emirates, a week ago, set up their own affiliate marketing plan with Commission Junction - undoubtedly their sales will increase. South African Airways, which has no internet affiliate marketing plans is falling more and more behind its competitors.
Emirates supporting rugby world cup 2007
South Africa's recent successes in the Super 14 and against England will have boosted the number wanting to go to the 2007 rugby world cup in France and the UK (from 7th September to 20th October). Emirates, who are sponsors of the rugby world cup, are giving away 2 tickets to pool matches for every first class or business class ticket booked online from South Africa....and wait...there's more...after you’ve got your free match tickets, you qualifity for a 10 per cent discount for flights on Emirates to any Europe Gateway from South Africa, from the 1st to the 30th September 2007.
Car rentals in South Africa
Many people who fly rent a car afterwards. We applied the SouthAfrica.TO formula to the car rental market to assist those who are flying to rent the cheapest car. The way to ensure you get the cheapest car rental is to check every car rental agency's prices. For your convenience we have listed all the car rental agencies operating at the major South African airports:
Security update at South African airports
With ACSA's stricter rules on liquids, aerosols & gels on international flights, security is at the forefront of people's minds. We've written on numerous occasions how its possible to bypass ACSA's rules on checking laptops, now it seems there's a way to also travel incognito. In a letter to news24, a reader explains that if you wear a veil for religious reasons, airlines don't ask you to lift the veil to check that your ID ties up with your face (he checked at George, Cape Town and Johannesburg airports). Interestingly enough, the reader reports that at Qatar veiled passengers are required to lift the veil for ID checks).
Mango & Southern Sun cosy up
A recent email sent by the Southern Sun group to its frequent guests, advertised "Mango's Winter Warmer Special, with flights from as low as R222* one way" - seems the Southern Sun group and Mango Airlines have struck something of a partnership - this is a coup for Mango, as Southern Sun are a large South African accommodation group and their email database must be substantial...wonder what Southern Sun gets out of the deal?
Lemon of the week : Sorry Mango Airlines - it's you again
Just like last week and
the week before , Mango airlines is the winner of a big fat lemon. I have lost count of the number of time we've written about Mango's mishaps with its online presence (the last being Mango's R1 ticket fiasco) and it seems they still haven't got it right: " I''m struggling my ass of to get on mango's website!!! I want to book a flight but YEH..., they gonna lost a client!!!!!!!!!", Koekie.
Quote of the week
"The seating was so close, when I tried to eat my homemade sandwich; I nearly bit off a piece of the ear of a passenger in front of me." Richard Cook
Ask our lovely travel consultant your questions here. She would love to assist.
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