£226 Find Cheap Flights from South Africa to the United Kingdom

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Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for flights to the United Kingdom

Get data-powered insights and trends for flights to the United Kingdom to help you find the cheapest flights, the best time to fly and much more.

What is the cheapest flight to the United Kingdom?

These are the best return prices found by users searching on KAYAK in the last 72 hours.

The cheapest ticket to the United Kingdom from South Africa found in the last 72 hours was to London Gatwick Airport, at £166 return. The most popular route is Cape Town (CPT) to London Gatwick Airport (LGW) and the cheapest return airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was £166.

How much is a flight to the United Kingdom?

The average and cheapest price for all round-trip flights to the United Kingdom from each origin found by users searching on KAYAK in the last month.

A flight to the United Kingdom costs £515 on average. The cheapest price found on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks was £122 for the route Cape Town (CPT) to London Gatwick Airport (LGW). The most popular routes on KAYAK are Cape Town to London which costs £493 on average, and Johannesburg to London, which costs £587 on average.

See prices from:

What is the cheapest month to fly from South Africa to the United Kingdom?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for flights from South Africa to the United Kingdom, removes the top 0.1% to account for outliers, and then takes the median of all values for each month.

The cheapest month for flights from South Africa to the United Kingdom is February, when tickets cost £470 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are August and September, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is £687 and £650 respectively.

How far in advance should I book a flight from South Africa to the United Kingdom?

To calculate weekly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each week before departure over the last year for round-trip flights to the United Kingdom, removes the top 0.1% to account for outliers, and then takes the average of all the values for each week.

To get a below-average price on a flight from South Africa to the United Kingdom, you should book around 12 weeks before departure, which saves you about 8% compared to booking last-minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 18 weeks before departure.

Which is the cheapest airport to fly into in the United Kingdom?

Prices will differ depending on the departure airport, but generally, the cheapest airport to fly to in the United Kingdom is London Gatwick Airport (LGW), with an average flight price of £212.

Good to know - Cheap tickets from South Africa to the United Kingdom

Low seasonFebruary
Cheapest flight£226
Best time to beat the crowds (18% less expensive on average)
Most popular time to fly (10% more expensive on average)
Flight from OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg to London Heathrow Airport

FAQs for booking flights from South Africa to the United Kingdom

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from South Africa to the United Kingdom?

    KAYAK is a travel search engine. That means we look across the web to find the best prices we can find for our users. With over 2 billion flight queries processed yearly, we are able to display a variety of prices and options on flights from South Africa to the United Kingdom.

  • How does KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy my flight ticket from South Africa to the United Kingdom?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from South Africa to the United Kingdom is likely to change within 7 days, so travellers know whether to wait or book now.

  • What is the Hacker Fare option on flights from South Africa to the United Kingdom?

    Hacker Fares allow you to combine one-way tickets in order to save you money over a traditional return ticket. You could then fly from South Africa to the United Kingdom with an airline and back with another airline.

  • What is KAYAK's "flexible dates" feature and why should I care when looking for a flight from South Africa to the United Kingdom?

    Sometimes travel dates aren't set in stone. If your preferred travel dates have some wiggle room, flexible dates will show you all the options when flying from South Africa to the United Kingdom up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

  • What is the cheapest day to fly to the United Kingdom?

    Based on KAYAK data, the cheapest day to fly to the United Kingdom is Monday when return tickets can be as cheap as £593. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Saturday, when return prices are £653 on average.

  • What is the cheapest time of day to fly to the United Kingdom?

    The cheapest time of day to fly to the United Kingdom is generally in the morning, when retur flights cost £644 on average. Morning departures are around 12% cheaper than evening flights, on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to the United Kingdom is generally at night, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is £834.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines flying from South Africa to the United Kingdom

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from South Africa to the United Kingdom? KAYAK airline reviews give an overall score for each airline based on loads of factors, including comfort, boarding, in-flight entertainment and more, to make your decision easier. See airline scores according to verified KAYAK customer reviews.
8.1
EmiratesOverall score based on 3334 reviews
8.3Crew
8.1Boarding
8.2Entertainment
7.9Food
8.0Comfort
Airline reviews

This was my first time flying with Emirates. Overall, the experience was very good. I thought the seats in economy would have been a bit more comfortable, but, they seem to be on par with other airlines. The food was excellent and very satisfying. If you can afford it, I would definitely suggest upgrading to at lest premium economy seats for long haul flights.

8.0 ExcellentCarlton, Sept 2025CPT - DXB
Read more Emirates reviews

This was my first time flying with Emirates. Overall, the experience was very good. I thought the seats in economy would have been a bit more comfortable, but, they seem to be on par with other airlines. The food was excellent and very satisfying. If you can afford it, I would definitely suggest upgrading to at lest premium economy seats for long haul flights.

Hospitality is good. Should improve on buggage handling because l lost a suitcase. Layover in Dubai was too long , 6 hours

We travelled in economy, were very satisfied with the comfort and keg space of the seats. Food was great compared to other airlines, the crew were very helpful and friendly. Since i was travelling with kids, i needed assistance multiple of times. Will be definitely taking long flights with Emirates from now on.

One of the female staff from the cabin crew, forgot to ask us about what we want to drink and focused more on other specific people rather than treating everyone politely. I asked her about the drinks to which she said oh I forgot.

They should resume the fast track for business / first class passengers

First time and very memorable, the finest flying experience ive ever had

Ove the A380 planes. Comfortable seats. Served great Indian food and Masala Chai!

Except for the uncleaned tray, and the delay in serving food for our section (which may have been due to the location of our row) everything else was good. The crew were very professional and responded to our requests promptly throughout the flight. We as a family were not disappointed by Emirates.

We had to deboard using stairs. Why didnt you have the aero-bridge?

We was missed the flight They doesn’t lest us fly next flight without payment They charge me 606 hundred dollars What is very unacceptable,our first fight ticket was almost 2000 dollars, again paid 700 it’s hurt … airlines need to do something please

Horrible flight. First delay in boarding of approximately 30 minutes. While in the plane, the flight attendants huddle and we get an announcement that the crew's legal time was exceeded, that they don't have replacement crew and that they will need to cancel the flight. One would think that they would know that their time was to be exceeded BEFORE boarding. Took for ever to deplane. Then we were told that flight would not be cancelled but gave us a departure time of 21.15, which of course was not fulfilled. Arrived in Valencia, luggage took 30 minutes to arrive. Absolutely unacceptable

Well it was a 2h delay flight so that said it all. With very little if any information. Boarding took for ever with long waits at the terminal and then in the finger. To top it off and increase the delay we had to take a bus in Zurich. A trip to forget

The return was painful because of the flight that was canceled. Nobody was able to help us out. It took hours and a lot of walking on two different airports to get a new flight

The plan was delayed for takeoff by an hour, but we ended up making the landing on time which was a nice surprise.

Delay more than hour created pressure to catch the connecting flight

The whole experience was positive. Crew very friendly and helpful. Very greedy with pre-seat allocation. Web site too complicated

The meal was wonderful and strawberry ice cream was a plus.

Each flight we took was late with little or no updates or information.

Clean, efficient and quick response time when we missed our connecting flight.

The flight was generally good but was delayed departure meant a very late arrival for a connecting flight.

Food was the worst I’ve had on a VA flight. Normally it’s a lot better

I was my pleasure to fly virgin on my birthday for my first solo trip ever 🫶🏼

These are one of the older seat arrangements facing away from the windows! Not particularly convenient sets. No storage spaces. NO COAT HANGING HOOKS. Inconvenient business class seat compared to any other airlines of similar class. Staff are excellent! Extremely professional, friendly. Food is good too.

Overall, flight was excellent but check in was very slow for Premium Economy. Economy queue was shorter but we weren't allowed to use it.

The staff was not very polite but the flight was very very nice and comfortable and the entertainment was great

Great crew - old style upper class seats on the older fleet now feels dated

Premium economy more comfortable than economy, but not by much. Did was awful, do not try the omelette. Flight crew were helpful. Flight was delayed by over an hour. Overall but bad, arrived safely and thank God.

Food was excellent. Service was very good. Staff was very helpful to all passengers.

The crew was excellent as ever on Virgin. The special meal was poor unfortunately. More significantly when we arrived at Manchester Airport there was no air bridge provided and we had to exit the plane down a rickety stair case. This is unacceptable for a transatlantic flight. Whilst I understand that this is the airport’s fault at the end of the day the airline is responsible for our transportation and needs to do something.

Super friendly and helpful staff, from check-in desk to cabin crew.

everything was perfect! plus so much leg room w all the empty seats near me :)

A bit more space? Not practical, I know. I felt squished in but part of that could have been the man sitting next to me.

We took two long flights with Lufthansa, both were delayed making us miss our connecting flights. Lufthansa took care of the first one. The second was a switch to United and figuring out how to rebook was not a pleasant experience.

The plane was delayed by two hours in Chicago which led to us missing the next flight. Lufthansa rebooked the flight and booked us a hotel for the night in Frankfurt. The level of customer service and getting us taken care of was superb. The flight crew and the service on the ground was superb.

Our flight was delayed for over an hour due to weather, and it had already been a long travel day. However, the crew was calm and compassionate, listening to every complaint with genuine concern. They got us home safely without incident, in spite of all of the obstacles. I’m grateful.

It was good service. The very low economic seats where not comfortable

Excellent once on board. Security staff at Johannesburg rude and aggressive.

This is my second time to fly this year with Lufthansa and both times they dropped the ball. My ticket was very cheap and l would not be honest if l said that l had some high expectations for that price. Fly delay 6 hours. Screen in fey seats around me didn’t work. Food for dinner was ok but breakfast was so poor. We had connection in Frankfurt for Vienna. Because of delay they gave us fly with 30 min layover time. We got to Vienna but our baggage was late of course. Long story short it took us almost 24 hours to get to the final destination. Very bad experience

It was my first experience in business class. It was everything I expected and more. Service was impeccable, food was delicious and I felt rested once I arrived to London

The staff are extremely rude maybe even racist, I’ve never been treated so poorly in my life. I will never fly with Lufthansa Mor Discovery Airlines again.

The flight was good. It arrived at Heathrow on time but then there was no transport to take us to the terminal. We sat on the plane for an hour waiting for a bus. I will avoid Heathrow if possible in future. The crew were very apologetic.

we had to walk up stairs to get into the plane--no jetways. Perhaps that's a problem not with the airline but with facilities at Heathrow, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. But it was inconvenient.

The seating has become ridiculous… like a contest to see how narrow and short they can be made- forcing anyone over 5’1 to pay more to not be twisting oneself into a pretzel. Really insane- would have thought BA was better than this. Frankly- it cancels out a lot of the positive aspects.

flight was delayed from BWI to London - missed my connecting flight & then connecting flight (also British Air) was delayed - food is awful, TV & movie selection is great

The flight was fine but they made me pay for my carryon bag because they said it was too big at the counter. But it fit under the seat just fine.

Super tight economy class. My knees were hitting the back of seat in front of me (I'm only 5'6"). My small backpack (sized according to their required dimensions) would not fit under the seat in front of me because there is a box (is that the life jacket?) in the way. Over all, extremely uncomfortable. I forgive the tasteless food, but the tight seating was torture

Excellent service by the flight crew, and the food was relatively very good compared to other airlines.

Flight was excellent, staff was great. My first time in first class and it was very relaxing and comfortable.

First time on BA but will fly with them from now on! Everything about the flight was superb!!!

They can separate the young children from people who want to have a rest. It had lots of crying and loud noises from the children.

Everything you need to know for your flight to the United Kingdom

Cabin class types available on flights to the United Kingdom

Cabin classes available on flights to the United Kingdom. Prices are the lowest found on KAYAK over the last 7 days. Price and availability is not guaranteed.

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