Domestic flight costs reach record high, unlikely to drop until 2023

By: Natasha Archary

Domestic flight costs have reached a record high, and the bad news is that this is unlikely to change until 2023.

Those looking for cheap flights over December should scrap plans altogether, as the cheapest domestic flights will likely only be available after February.

There won’t be much on offer going into Black Friday on 25 November either, with FlySafair reportedly not running any last minute specials on flights.

This is due largely to the demand for seats and a lack thereof, which has not only pushed the costs of domestic flights exorbitantly, but also means there aren’t many options out there.

Comair’s liquidation has left the market volatile, and now with both British Airways and Kulula out of operation, there’s about 900 000 to 1 million less seats a month.

While FlySafair has filled the gap by expanding its routes and adding more planes to increase its operations, bringing in new aircraft takes time.

Which is why the prediction is that the costs of domestic flights will only start to drop as we head into Easter next year.

By then the airline will have added 6 new Boeing planes to its fleet of 25, which will likely boost capacity.

The advice from FlySafair’s Chief Marketing Officer, Kirby Gordon is for people to plan their December travels much earlier in the year and not leave it to the last minute.

Peak season travel may leave people disappointed as a seat may be too scarce the longer one waits.

A one-way flight ticket to Cape Town from Johannesburg is likely to cost around R3 800 this December.

There are currently only four operational airlines running domestic flights in the country, FlySafair, CemAir, Lift and Airlink.

SA Express, Mango, Kulula and British Airways have all been grounded or liquidated.

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Written by: Natasha

domestic flight costs FlySafair peak season travel