R5 043 Find Cheap Flights to the United Arab Emirates – Compare and Save

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from South Africa to the United Arab Emirates departing on 20/9. Fares are subject to change and may not be available on all flights or dates of travel. Click the price to replicate the search for this deal.
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Cheap Flights to the United Arab Emirates

Cheapest return prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours
Dubai
DubaidirectR9 808
Abu Dhabi
Abu DhabidirectR8 198
Dubai
DubaidirectR9 808
Abu Dhabi
Abu DhabidirectR8 198

Book Cheap United Arab Emirates Plane Tickets

 
Here are some of the best deals found on KAYAK recently from the most popular airlines for return flights to the United Arab Emirates that are departing in the next months. While these flights were available on KAYAK in the last 72 hours, prices and availability are subject to change and deals may expire.
Discover the best prices for you by selecting your travel dates on KAYAK.

Recent return flight deals to the United Arab Emirates

Mon, Jul 27 - Tue, Aug 4
Etihad Airways Logo
9:45 - 19:45
JNB
-
AUH
8h 00mdirect
Etihad Airways Logo
2:10 - 8:20
AUH
-
JNB
8h 10mdirect
R8 198Etihad Airways
Mon, Jul 27 - Sun, Aug 2
Etihad Airways Logo
9:45 - 19:45
JNB
-
AUH
8h 00mdirect
Etihad Airways Logo
2:10 - 8:20
AUH
-
JNB
8h 10mdirect
R8 230Etihad Airways
Sun, Oct 25 - Sat, Apr 24
Qatar Airways Logo
13:45 - 3:50
JNB
-
AUH
12h 05m
1 stop
Qatar Airways Logo
18:45 - 9:10
AUH
-
JNB
16h 25m
1 stop
R9 003Qatar Airways
Wed, Oct 28 - Wed, Nov 4
Qatar Airways Logo
13:45 - 10:50
JNB
-
AUH
19h 05m
1 stop
Qatar Airways Logo
22:30 - 15:35
AUH
-
JNB
19h 05m
1 stop
R9 331Qatar Airways
Sat, Aug 22 - Sat, Aug 29
Emirates Logo
10:05 - 20:15
JNB
-
DXB
8h 10mdirect
Emirates Logo
14:25 - 20:35
DXB
-
JNB
8h 10mdirect
R9 808Emirates
Fri, Oct 2 - Mon, Nov 2
Emirates Logo
22:20 - 8:20
JNB
-
DXB
8h 00mdirect
Emirates Logo
23:25 - 5:35
DXB
-
JNB
8h 10mdirect
R9 873Emirates
Mon, Aug 31 - Tue, Sep 8
Kenya Airways Logo
1:15 - 23:25
JNB
-
DXB
20h 10m
1 stop
Kenya Airways Logo
6:45 - 15:50
DXB
-
JNB
11h 05m
1 stop
R9 955Kenya Airways
Mon, Jul 13 - Mon, Jul 27
Ethiopian Air Logo
13:50 - 2:55
CPT
-
DXB
11h 05m
1 stop
Ethiopian Air Logo
4:25 - 14:10
DXB
-
CPT
11h 45m
1 stop
R11 056Ethiopian Air
Wed, Sep 16 - Mon, Sep 28
Kenya Airways Logo
23:30 - 4:35
CPT
-
DXB
27h 05m
1 stop
Kenya Airways Logo
0:55 - 13:35
DXB
-
CPT
14h 40m
2 stops
R11 155Kenya Airways
Mon, Jul 13 - Fri, Jul 17
Ethiopian Air Logo
5:30 - 3:25
JNB
-
SHJ
19h 55m
2 stops
Ethiopian Air Logo
4:25 - 13:25
SHJ
-
JNB
11h 00m
1 stop
R13 865Ethiopian Air
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for flights to the United Arab Emirates

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

What is the cheapest flight to the United Arab Emirates?

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

The cheapest ticket to the United Arab Emirates from South Africa found in the last 72 hours was to Abu Dhabi, at R9 017 return. The most popular route is Cape Town (CPT) to Dubai (DXB) and the cheapest return airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was R10 140.

How much is a flight to the United Arab Emirates?

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

A flight to the United Arab Emirates costs R10 395 on average. The cheapest price found on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks was R4 720 for the route Johannesburg OR Tambo Airport (JNB) to Abu Dhabi (AUH). The most popular routes on KAYAK are Johannesburg to Abu Dhabi which costs R12 756 on average, and Cape Town to Dubai, which costs R14 250 on average.

See prices from:

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

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for flights from South Africa to the United Arab Emirates, 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 Arab Emirates is September, when tickets cost R6 095 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are May and August, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is R8 575 and R8 033 respectively.

What is the cheapest time of day to fly to the United Arab Emirates?

The average price for all round-trip flights from South Africa to the United Arab Emirates depending on the time of departure, clicked by users on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks.

The cheapest time of day to fly to the United Arab Emirates is generally in the morning, when retur flights cost R12 320 on average. Morning departures are around 7% cheaper than evening flights, on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to the United Arab Emirates is generally in the afternoon, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is R13 804.

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

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 Arab Emirates, 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 Arab Emirates, you should book around 2 weeks before departure, which saves you about 6% compared to booking last-minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 12 weeks before departure.

Which is the cheapest airport to fly into in the United Arab Emirates?

Prices will differ depending on the departure airport, but generally, the cheapest airport to fly to in the United Arab Emirates is Abu Dhabi Zayed Intl Airport (AUH), with an average flight price of R5 969.

Good to know

Low seasonMay
Cheapest flightR5 043
Best time to beat the crowds (11% less expensive on average)
Most popular time to fly (13% more expensive on average)
Flight from Johannesburg to Abu Dhabi

FAQs - booking United Arab Emirates flights

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

    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 Arab Emirates.

  • 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 Arab Emirates?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from South Africa to the United Arab Emirates 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 Arab Emirates?

    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 Arab Emirates 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 Arab Emirates?

    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 Arab Emirates 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 Arab Emirates?

    Based on KAYAK data, the cheapest day to fly to the United Arab Emirates is Wednesday when return tickets can be as cheap as R12 507. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Saturday, when return prices are R13 037 on average.

Top tips for finding cheap flights to the United Arab Emirates

  • Looking for cheap airfare to the United Arab Emirates? 25% of our users found return tickets to the United Arab Emirates for the following prices or less: From Johannesburg OR Tambo R39 684, from Cape Town R49 980, from Durban R56 928
  • Enter your preferred departure airport and travel dates into the search form above to unlock the latest United Arab Emirates flight deals.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines flying to the United Arab Emirates

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from South Africa to the United Arab Emirates? 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 3602 reviews
8,1Boarding
7,9Food
8,2Entertainment
8,0Comfort
8,4Crew
Airline reviews

Difficult to find some food option for gluten and dairy allergy. May be a fruit salad would be better

8,0 ExcellentAnonymous, Jun 2026
SEA - DXB
Read more Emirates reviews

Difficult to find some food option for gluten and dairy allergy. May be a fruit salad would be better

The quality of food is going down comparing with old history of excellent food. It was cold and a bad quality. The crew is always excellent and caring.

There is an issue with A380 when it arrives in Munich, because a business class passengers like me have to wait for the first class passengers to disembark, which takes some time while you are also offloading economy passengers this causes an issue at customs where your business class passengers end up behind a large bulk of economy passengers This is a frustration and the early dislocation should be and is supposed to be a benefit of business class

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.

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

No Vegetarian options onboard, made to wait for a long time for boarding

The internet connection did was not functioning as per normal.

The individual attention the crew gives to passengers is commendable and I find them positively helpful.

For such a long flight I feel the spacing of seats could’ve been better to make it more comfortable for passengers. Very little space to move & stretch legs.

The flight was delayed in Jhb and I could have had some help in Dubai trying to get to my connecting flight to London

I had a very good experience from boarding to arrivals.

Boarded almost 48 hrs later after a scheduling change on my initial flight that was not communicated either by kayak of SAA.

I had booked a ticket for a 6:40 am departure in July 2025, but it appears there was a change to 8;00 am, which meant I missed my connecting flight which departed 10 m minutes before I landed. I had seen this problem only the previous day and try to resolve it with South African air, but they are very uncooperative on the phone. All they could say was all flights were fully booked and I ended up buying paying $2,000+ to secure a ticket for my family to ensure we got out of South Africa by Monday, which am currently pursuing with the airline.

South African Airways on the outside, a very old shabby Qatar Airways plane on the inside

The food options were beef or veg, No alternatives for Hindus, that don't eat beef...

Flight was on time Seats ( business class) are terrible- you keep on slipping down as it doesn’t lie flat Food service is like economy class. Meals ( still wrapped in plastic) are just dropped in front of you

On time flight; otherwise not impressed by the check- in- purchased business class and the aircraft was downgraded; no refund given for the difference. Told I could access the lounge due to the above and was questioned by the lounge check- in person who was not friendly

Flight was cancelled with no notification until I reached the check-in desk at the airport. I also got downgraded and they lost my luggage.

Very bad, Linda the hostess was very rude all the time

Everything the crew werr nice and helpful plus the food was good

The crew were fabulous. We travelled Doha to Miami and the crew in board we exceptional too.

Qatar was pretty OK for their services but Arangrant was awful at theirs and frankly lied to me. Qatar offers four business class fares and only three of them allow lounge access. This is a horrible policy when you pay so much for business class and shame on them for denying the simple use of their lounges for this confusion. When I requested my business class ticket with Arangrant I knew this and specifically told them I would only purchase the lowest class business seat that would still permit me lounge access on all legs of my trip. They lied to me and said I did and then I was refused this service on my return flights. I had no less than 4-8 schedule changes and got screwed by a late departure from DCA on my double connection to JNB. I lost nearly a full day on my outbound and then had little to no use of the lounges on my outbound flights. To then be denied access on my return flights made the 27 hour trip home pretty awful. Kayak should no longer work with Arangrant as they are dishonest and liars. Qatar should price all four of their business class fares to include lounge access and stop the insanity they have forced on people. My return trip home nearly ruined my entire trip to South Africa and I blame Arangrant for telling me lies and for Qatar for offering insane rules and regulations on such expensive business class fares. For the money I paid to Qatar, I did not receive the full services I was promised. I will probably never use Arangrant and their ignorant services ever again. I will question whether I ever fly on Qatar Airways again as well. When you pay so much and get such little in return, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Arangrant gives the whole industry a bad name and Qatar is not far behind them. I can honestly say that the wretched service and way I was treated by both have soured me on travel companies and airlines. It is bad enough that we have an idiot, felon, racist and bigoted president and administration to contend with while he has started an illegal war, I did not expect to get screwed over by Arangrant and Qatar as well. Shame on all of you.

Awful plane to Tashkent. Not even possible to sleep. In business class does not even recline fully

Doha airport is huge , takes long time to reach gate .

As gold member there is no priority checkin. Meaning you either have to board with your zone or last with business class pax. As economy pax all the baggage bays are filled by the time you arrive

Other than low space, which is the problem with all airlines for economy class, the flight was excellent.

Check-in staff were not very pleasing and sounded to be rude, even though I hold a platinum membership. The aircraft is brand new and good. As it's a short flight no other comments.

Bus from gate to plane waited more than 30 minutes in a freezing temperatures of a/c. Plane temperature was very cold .

The flight was not on time in taking off and landing and it resulted in me missing the connection which qatar airways didn't take responsibility for and blamed it on me using manipulated flight landing and take off information. I will never fly qatar again

The first and longest leg, Washington to Doha, was in a 777 that was very loud. This was an older aircraft. The second leg, Doha to Delhi, was in a much newer aircraft, an A350 and was very substantially quieter. The service was good on both, though as always, the crew leaves you trapped with your meal tray for a really long time. Additionally, the flight crew seemed inordinately afraid of turbulence, keeping the seat belt sign on for long stretches when there was barely noticeable turbulence.

i have book the flight with baggage. and i have paid $800.00 for the baggage. when i contacted to JUSTFLY Costumer Service they told me that my baggage was included in the booking. then why i have to pay. i am going to file a complain against it. $800.00 is not at all small amount

I payed for extra leg room but in last moment my seating place was changed and i got standard one seat. Staff was not able to do anything , so was very disappointed because of this.

They lost the baggage and said it was deleted from the system. I had baggage tag so was able to file the complaint but there was no PIR number and update so far

It was very relaxing and staff were very quick to attend to any requests.

Air hostesses were great. Food was good. Flat bed is not that flat or comfortable.

Very disappointed to not have lounge access The shorter flight seats were uncomfortable

Seats were very comfortable and the staff too was very friendly.

I booked tickets for a family of five and specifically paid extra to select our seats together. We spent nearly $1,000 extra (around $100 per seat) for extra legroom so we could sit near each other. However, despite paying for this, we ended up being separated on the flight. This caused a major issue for our family because my parents do not speak English and rely on me to translate and assist them during the journey. I do not understand why Etihad changed our reserved seats without explanation. I am extremely dissatisfied with this experience. I expect the airline to do better, and I am requesting a full refund for the seat selection fees we paid.

1 hour delay meant missed my connecting flight and 1st day of holiday

Flight got canceled due to Middle East conflict. Just fly hasn’t refunded me the money

The following is a review for a flight from Johannesburg to Washington, DC with a connection at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and refueling landing at Rome, Italy. The flight was provided by Ethiopian Airlines. There were two of us: me and my wife on this flight. Everything was on time. Enough legroom between the seats, I was able to stretch my legs and sleep for at least some time during the 14 hour second flight (19 hours in total for both flights). Very decent meals that included two lunches and one breakfast on the flight from Addis Ababa to Washington and one lunch on the flight from Johannesburg to Addis Ababa. The lunch choices were beef, chicken and fish, I think the vegetarian option was available as well, accompanied with beans. The breakfast was a choice between egg and pancake, accompanied with a fruit salad. The egg breakfast was awesome, it came with a scrambled egg and a sausage. However, my wife mentioned unusual taste of the pancake breakfast meal, by all means those were not pancakes. What wasn't good: Externally initiated commercials on the infosystem screens, you couldn't turn the screen off. These commercials were accompanied by loud and annoying music, transmitted through the entire cabin. Obviously, there was no escape from this music as well. Additional moment: on the flight from Addis Ababa to Washington, DC, we landed at Rome for refueling. This was totally fine and it was in the flight itinerary. But, the flight attendant asked me to straighten the seat while we were at the steady position during the refueling. I can't rationalize this order except that some people just like to be a boss of some kind. Keeping the light lit in the economy cabin while keeping it dimmed in the first class also didn't improve my and my wife's feelings. Overall, the services were very good and the flight, despite its longevity, went on very smoothly.

POSITIVES The hostesses were mostly pleasant, NEGATIVES The full flight wifi was horrible, hardly able to use it. My charger port was not working which made me use my neighbour's port which resulted in an accident which ruined her flight. During dinner, meat ran out when the cart got to us forcing us to eat vegetarian which was not great. We watched everyone around us eating meat. My wifi did not transfer to the second leg of my trip as they promised as they changed the plane. I was thrown off the window seat I booked for the 2nd leg of my journey as they changed planes, all done at my expense. This was not a cheap flight ($2600) which i hurriedly had to book to attend my mother's funeral who passed away suddenly. I was honestly disappointed with the whole saga as I heard Ethiopian Airlines was one of Africa's best.

The food was terrible and the seating was uncomfortable, but the airline did a great thing letting us board in Abbis Ababa on our connecting flight after our original flight was very delayed.

The hygiene was super bad. Smells bad and air refreshment is highly advisable. The crew made some one else sit in my spot and no one is checking seat number and people are jumping to sit on other people’s allocated seat.

Im if Ethiopian can allow customers to use their mileage for in flight connexion it will be great.

Food was really not appealing. There was a blocked sink in the toilet. Toilet is cramped and the wall between the 2 toilets are not secured properly.

Plane was late with no information or announcement … had to walk up n downstairs.., had not communicated this … and ppl had suitcase to carry .

My entertainment screen wasn't working and they couldn't fix it.

It is just ok, the sits are very uncomfortable, the temperature too low and there weren’t blankets. The food is mediocre and there are no screens to watch movies.

I've never been served three bread courses in a single meal before. Was really impressed by the novelty of that.

Everything you need to know for your flight to the United Arab Emirates

Cabin class types available on flights to the United Arab Emirates

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