FlySafair

FlySafair is the busiest domestic airline in South Africa by departures and the most reliable price benchmark on every major trunk route. The carrier flies a Boeing 737 fleet out of OR Tambo, Cape Town, Durban, George, Port Elizabeth and East London, with the JNB-CPT corridor alone seeing more than fifteen FlySafair departures on a typical weekday. The fare model is unbundled: a base seat costs less than every other domestic carrier most weeks, but cabin baggage above 7kg, checked baggage, seat selection and onboard refreshments are paid extras. For carry-on-only travellers on a domestic hop, this is almost always the cheapest legitimate option in the market.

Practical notes: online check-in opens twenty-four hours before departure and closes thirty minutes before, with airport bag-drop counters closing forty-five minutes before domestic departures. The FlySafair app is the smoothest way to manage same-day changes, which are charged on a sliding scale depending on how close to departure you act. Refunds on standard fares are not offered — the airline operates on a credit-voucher system for cancellations made outside specific windows. Sale fares (announced roughly monthly via the FlySafair newsletter and social channels) drop one-way prices on flagship routes well below the usual floor; subscribing to the email list is the easiest way to catch them before inventory runs out.