We found SA’s cheapest airlines for last-minute trips, and one charging R7k for a local flight

Whipping out the credit card to pay for a domestic flight is almost always a grudge purchase, even more so when buying the ticket isn’t for a well-planned holiday but out of last-minute necessity.

Although South Africa briefly flirted with low-cost airlines about a decade ago, this is now an oxymoron in the country’s domestic air travel space. Even tickets bought months in advance now carry fares upwards of R2 000 return between Johannesburg and Cape Town.