How to Get from New Zealand to South Africa

It may not surprise you to learn that there aren’t any airlines that connect New Zealand with South Africa, although that no doubt comes as a bit of bad news to anyone headed to the South Africa World Cup to cheer on the All Whites. That doesn’t mean you can’t get there from here, of course, it just means you’ll have to make at least one stop along the way.

Because you’ll be forced to change planes somewhere between New Zealand and South Africa anyway, you might as well be a little more picky about your flights. Sure, the trip from New Zealand to Australia to South Africa may be shorter, but flying to Dubai or Singapore first gives you more options in South Africa. Here are just a few of your options when it comes to flying from New Zealand to South Africa for the World Cup.

Flying from New Zealand to South Africa via Australia

Probably the easiest route is to fly from New Zealand to one of the three airports in Australia that offers flights to South Africa. There are direct flights to Johannesburg from Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. From New Zealand, you can catch a flight on several airlines to those cities – including Air New Zealand, Emirates, Jetstar Airways, Qantas, and Virgin Blue.

Keep in mind that one of the Sydney-Johannesburg flights isn’t non-stop, so you’d be making two stops (including your flight from New Zealand to Sydney) if you opted for that one.

>> Read more about the airports in Australia with flights to South Africa

Flying from New Zealand to South Africa via Singapore

Singapore is a bit more north than you’d go if you were flying as the crow flies from New Zealand to South Africa, but there are a couple reasons you might consider flying to Singapore and then to South Africa. First, if you get an excellent deal on a flight to Singapore, it might be worthwhile financially. Second, there are flights from Singapore into more than just Johannesburg’s airport, which gives you a little more flexibility for where you end up in South Africa.

Singapore Airlines flies from Auckland and Christchurch in New Zealand, and the same airline will also get you to either Johannesburg or Cape Town in South Africa. So if the games you’ll be going to are in Cape Town and not Jo’burg, this might be a good option for you.

Flying from New Zealand to South Africa via Dubai

You probably don’t have to look at a map to know that flying to South Africa from New Zealand by way of Dubai isn’t exactly direct. And we admit it’s not the best route you could choose. But it is an option, and if you decide to break up your trip by spending a few days in Dubai then it could be a good one.

The main reason we’re even listing this route is that from Dubai, you can fly to a few airports in South Africa – so you’re not limited to just flying into Johannesburg and then hopping on a short flight somewhere else in the country. From Dubai, you can get an Emirates flight to Johannesburg, Cape Town, or Durban. And you can also fly Emirates to Dubai from Auckland and Christchurch, too, making it easy to stick with one airline for your whole trip.

photo by Frames-of-Mind