I`m planning to visit SA in June this year ... and am wondering if it`s a good idea to book the internal flights there so long in advance? ..... Jhb to Durban return.

My return flight is what scares me ... missing the Swiss bound plane in Johannesburg, should the local be late or cancelled or whatever....?

Anyone here have any experiences of the reliability of the local flights in SA ?....... Mango in particular.

It depends on time of the year and planning in advance. My experience was generally good with domestic flights to Durbs, Cape Town about three years ago. I hated Kulula (Kulula.com) but enjoyed British Airways and South African Airways (flysa.com). Dont know what's the situation right now! I can imagine they will still be ok or at least up to scratch. I dont think there will be much tourist in winter (June) as people travel more to EU. Just more locals will be flying to their destinations. Plan and make bookings in advance - all I can suggest.

__________________
🎾That's what we do to help English speaking expats community in Switzerland:
General Information About Swiss Tennis
Tennis Lessons Summer Winter Seasons
🎾🎾Our charity organization to help unprivileged kids to realize their dreams:
FMTF Supports Tennis For Children in Southern Africa

The wife flies in ZA all of the time and has nothing particularly bad to say about internal flights making their connections. I think that she finds them more reliable than the internal flight in the United States.

Just give yourself an hour or more.

I never really complained about them, they were just as great as in EU or elsewhere. We always have this inferiority complex and bitch and moan about services but in reality things work smoothly there. I heard about minor hiccups during WC2010. International flights were always great and no major delays and I fly at least once a year to SA.

Thank you for your replies.

And sorry I took the moderators time to move my thread ... I am still trying to get used to the correct modus operandi of threads on EF.

So ..... travel related topics are "General Off Topic" .... I will try to remember that in future.

"Off topic" should mean not related to the topic under discussion, but since there was no "travel in SA" topic discussion ..... oh well ..... learning new things every day.

Do I get a diploma when I have mastered the non off-topic posting of threads, or the off-topic thread that stays off-topic, or the on-topic thread that stays on-topic..? ..or the off-topic that should be On-topic..?

How will I know when I can fearlessly begin a new discussion?

How will I know.... I have over-stepped the mark of respect and am about to be banned..? Or does that happen automatically without recourse to a higher opinion of justice?

How will I know ... If you really love me..? (a song that just came into my head)... Oh .. how will I KNOW?

Not necessarily. If you were asking about internal Swiss flights then it wouldn't be off topic.

Off-topic -not related to Switzerland in anyway.

Oh, is there such a thing as Internal flights in Switzerland..?.. seriously ...

Danke Schön .... anything not Switzerland related is Off-Topic?

You are welcome. As long as you will manage to get your itinerary right and have a safe journey, it will make us all happy

Yep! My wife has been asked if she wanted to fly or drive or rail to Zurich from Geneva.

You are not suggesting smoky should be driving down to Durban ...

Now that is one experience I would simply love to experience ....!
Sahara desert and all .....!

Nah, I only got 21 days so it`s got to be a bit quick.... and efficient.

I'm afraid it would have taken ten times as long, so probably next time around!

Try to avoid Kulula, Mango and 1time, if possible fly SAA or BA - they are far more reliable. Have a great holiday!

KULULA = BA

Who are you flying with to SA? as if you fly BA you can add inland flights to the booking. That would cover you if a leg should be delayed.

I flew Kululu last month CPT-JHB-CPT; the outbound was a little late (you get that anywhere), there was a full crew both ways (not bad for a low cost) and didn't wonder about safety, not even when I saw the aircraft:







A special welcome for Swiss passengers:

I am flying Swiss ... lowest fare direct to Jhb (!) ...but ...they don`t do the connecting internal flights.

Hence the reason I asked about Mango. BA and SAA are about 3 times the Mango price.......... but maybe it would be safer to take the more expensive flights?..with LOTS of insurance against delays...?

Hi Smoky,

Don't stress, I refuse to pay the extra amount SAA and BA charge. I tend to fly 1time and Mango, about 20+ times in the past year between Cape Town and Durban and only 2 have been delayed. I would say all airlines in SA are equally likely to be delayed, but if there is a problem SAA has more flights to make a backup plan.

For your flight back though you need to be at the airport 2 hours before for international flights. Make it 4 hours before and you will have no need to worry, it doesn't take 2 hours to fly between any two points in SA so even if they have a problem there will be plenty of time for them to shift aircrafts.

Also book now!!! The prices will just keep going up the closer it gets. Let me know if you have any other questions (:

Internal flights are very good in SA and safety/standards etc are as good as you would find in Europe.

Mango, Kulula and 1-Time are all much of a muchness so just go with whoever is cheapest.

Have a lekker time in SA!