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Gone are the days when you could book a domestic flight on a whim and pop up to Jozi for the weekend.

In fact, you’re fortunate if you can actually find an open spot on short notice and even if you do, it’s going to cost a fortune.

The demise of Comair, which operated domestic British Airways flights as well as low-cost carrier Kulula, and the continued surge in fuel prices have seen ticket prices shoot through the roof.

There have been warnings that domestic air travellers should be prepared to pay three to four times more for their flight tickets, and that gets worse the closer you get to Christmas.

BusinessTech reports

Discovery vitality CEO Dinesh Govender said that festive season airfares would be five times higher in December compared to off-peak periods, driven by declining domestic seat capacity and climbing airline expenses.

Domestic flights between Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban over December have climbed to around R2,000 for a one-way ticket, while some are even as much as R4,000 – meaning you’ll pay roughly between R4,000 to R7,000 for a return flight depending on your location and chosen destination.

R7 000 for a local flight to a major airport – staggering.

Pencilled in that Friday public holiday on December 16 for a cheeky jaunt somewhere?

Cool, but prepare to be stung. Business Insider SA took a look at flight prices for those dates:

…there’s no way of getting around high airfares for the 16 December long weekend, [and] ticket prices range from around R2,700 to nearly R4,500, with the last remaining seats selling out fast.

Flying on Friday 16 December, from Johannesburg OR Tambo to Cape Town is cheapest on FlySafair, at R2,782 for a one-way ticket for a flight that departs at 19:45. Morning flights start at R3,284.

On SAA, a one-way ticket between Johannesburg and Cape Town on December 16 starts from R4 438.

Along with the rise in fuel costs, which has seen ticket prices around the world increase, South Africa is also suffering from a shortage of qualified pilots and other airline personnel.

Thankfully, there’s hope of a drop in average ticket prices in time. If everything goes to plan, and fuel costs don’t further escalate, we may see a degree of normality come winter 2023.

[sources:bustech&businsider]