R5 279 Find Cheap Flights to Istanbul

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight to Istanbul departing on 18/11. 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.
1 adult
1 adult, Economy

KAYAK searches hundreds of travel sites at once for deals on flights to Istanbul

 
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results for flights to Istanbul
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results for flights to Istanbul
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Flights Deals

Cheap Flights to Istanbul

 
Here are some of the best deals found on KAYAK recently from the most popular airlines for return flights to Istanbul 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 Istanbul

Thu, Oct 30 - Thu, Nov 6
Qatar Airways Logo
19:50 - 12:10JNB-SAW
15h 20m1 stop
Qatar Airways Logo
13:40 - 3:55SAW-JNB
15h 15m1 stop
R9 158Qatar Airways
Find Deal
Wed, Oct 29 - Tue, Nov 11
Qatar Airways Logo
11:55 - 12:10DUR-SAW
23h 15m2 stops
Qatar Airways Logo
20:10 - 10:35SAW-DUR
15h 25m2 stops
R9 158Qatar Airways
Find Deal
Mon, Sep 8 - Mon, Sep 15
Etihad Airways Logo
9:50 - 13:05JNB-IST
26h 15m1 stop
Etihad Airways Logo
14:10 - 8:20IST-JNB
19h 10m1 stop
R10 115Etihad Airways
Find Deal
Tue, Sep 2 - Tue, Sep 9
Etihad Airways Logo
9:50 - 6:15JNB-IST
19h 25m1 stop
Etihad Airways Logo
14:10 - 8:20IST-JNB
19h 10m1 stop
R10 150Etihad Airways
Find Deal
Mon, Jul 21 - Mon, Aug 4
Ethiopian Air Logo
14:35 - 4:45CPT-IST
13h 10m1 stop
Ethiopian Air Logo
23:55 - 13:00IST-CPT
14h 05m1 stop
R11 426Ethiopian Air
Find Deal
Mon, Jul 21 - Mon, Aug 4
Ethiopian Air Logo
14:35 - 4:45CPT-IST
13h 10m1 stop
Ethiopian Air Logo
23:55 - 13:00IST-CPT
14h 05m1 stop
R11 461Ethiopian Air
Find Deal
Mon, Jun 23 - Mon, Jun 30
Emirates Logo
13:05 - 21:35CPT-IST
31h 30m1 stop
Emirates Logo
23:20 - 11:35IST-CPT
37h 15m1 stop
R11 656Emirates
Find Deal
Tue, Dec 2 - Sat, Dec 6
Emirates Logo
13:40 - 21:55CPT-IST
31h 15m1 stop
Emirates Logo
16:25 - 16:45IST-CPT
25h 20m1 stop
R12 010Emirates
Find Deal
Fri, Aug 1 - Wed, Aug 13
Turkish Airlines Logo
17:55 - 4:40JNB-IST
9h 45mdirect
Turkish Airlines Logo
1:50 - 10:35IST-JNB
9h 45mdirect
R14 366Turkish Airlines
Find Deal
Wed, Aug 20 - Sat, Aug 23
Turkish Airlines Logo
14:45 - 4:40DUR-IST
12h 55m1 stop
Turkish Airlines Logo
1:50 - 13:15IST-DUR
12h 25m1 stop
R14 951Turkish Airlines
Find Deal
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KAYAK's insights & trends for flights to Istanbul

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

What is the cheapest flight to Istanbul?

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

In the last 3 days, the cheapest flight deal to Istanbul was found on the route from Cape Town, at R162 225 return. The most popular connection is from Johannesburg to Istanbul and KAYAK users have found return deals for as low as R9 158 in the last 3 days.

How much is a flight to Istanbul?

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

A flight to Istanbul costs R11 486 on average. The cheapest price found on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks cost R6 638 and departed from Cape Town. The most popular routes on KAYAK are Johannesburg to Istanbul which costs R14 578 on average, and Durban to Istanbul, which costs R14 786 on average.

See prices from:

What is a good deal for flights to Istanbul?

If you’re looking for cheap airfare to Istanbul, 25% of our users found tickets to Istanbul for the following prices or less: From Johannesburg OR Tambo Airport R12 779 return, from Cape Town R13 265 return.

How far in advance should I book a flight to Istanbul?

To calculate weekly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each week before departure over the last year for round-trip flights to Istanbul, 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, you should book around 4 weeks before departure. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 7 weeks before departure.

Which is the cheapest airport to fly into in Istanbul?

Prices will differ depending on the departure airport, but generally, the cheapest airport to fly to in Istanbul is Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport (SAW), with an average flight price of R2 187.

Good to know – Book Cheap Istanbul Plane Tickets

Cheapest flightR5 279
Flight from Cape Town to Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport

When to book flights to Istanbul

Are your dates flexible? Find out the best times to travel to Istanbul based on our flight data from the last year. Discover the cheapest month and even day to fly.
Estimated return price
KAYAK looks at all historical flight data for each date to provide a predicted price for one-way trips or returns with a duration up to 40 days. The information is for flights to Istanbul based on your location. While we try to provide actual minimum prices for each date, some prices are predictions and actual prices may differ.

FAQs - booking Istanbul flights

  • What is the cheapest flight to Istanbul?

    In the last 3 days, the cheapest flight deal to Istanbul was found on the route from Cape Town, at R162 225 return. The most popular connection is from Johannesburg to Istanbul and KAYAK users have found return deals for as low as R9 158 in the last 3 days.

  • Which Istanbul airport is closest to central Istanbul?

    Out of the 2 airports in Istanbul, Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport is the nearest to the city center (32 km). You'll travel 34 km to reach the center of Istanbul if you land in Istanbul Airport

  • How much is a flight to Istanbul?

    On average, a flight to Istanbul costs R11 486. The cheapest price found on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks cost R6 638 and departed from Cape Town Intl Airport.

  • What is the cheapest day to fly to Istanbul?

    Based on KAYAK data, the cheapest day to fly to Istanbul is Tuesday where round-trip tickets can be as cheap as R14 219. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Saturday, where round-trip prices are R15 439 on average.

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights to Istanbul?

    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 to Istanbul.

  • How does KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy my flight ticket to Istanbul?

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

  • What is the Hacker Fare option on flights to Istanbul?

    Hacker Fares allow you to combine one-way tickets in order to save you money over a traditional round-trip ticket. You could then fly to Istanbul 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 to Istanbul?

    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 to Istanbul up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

  • What is the cheapest time of day to fly to Istanbul?

    The cheapest time of day to fly to Istanbul is generally in the morning, when round-trip flights cost R560 on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to Istanbul is generally in the evening, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is R831.

  • How many direct flights to Istanbul are there each week?

    Each week there are around 14 direct flights from within South Africa to Istanbul. The most common day for departures is Wednesday, with 14% of flights taking off on this day.

Top tips for finding cheap flights to Istanbul

  • Enter your preferred departure airport and travel dates into the search form above to unlock the latest Istanbul flight deals.

Prefer to fly direct to Istanbul?

Find which airlines fly direct to Istanbul, which days they fly and book direct flights.

Direct departures

South Africa to Istanbul

Monday

ANA, AZIMUTH, Aegean Airlines, +119 more

ANA, AZIMUTH, +120 more

Tuesday

ANA, AZIMUTH, Aegean Airlines, +120 more

ANA, AZIMUTH, +121 more

Wednesday

ANA, AZIMUTH, Aegean Airlines, +118 more

ANA, AZIMUTH, +119 more

Thursday

ANA, AZIMUTH, Aegean Airlines, +121 more

ANA, AZIMUTH, +122 more

Friday

ANA, AZIMUTH, Aegean Airlines, +121 more

ANA, AZIMUTH, +122 more

Saturday

ANA, AZIMUTH, Aegean Airlines, +117 more

ANA, AZIMUTH, +118 more

Sunday

ANA, AZIMUTH, Aegean Airlines, +123 more

ANA, AZIMUTH, +124 more

See more direct flights

Direct returns

Istanbul to South Africa

Monday

ANA, AZIMUTH, Aegean Airlines, +119 more

ANA, AZIMUTH, +120 more

Tuesday

ANA, AZIMUTH, Aegean Airlines, +120 more

ANA, AZIMUTH, +121 more

Wednesday

ANA, AZIMUTH, Aegean Airlines, +118 more

ANA, AZIMUTH, +119 more

Thursday

ANA, AZIMUTH, Aegean Airlines, +121 more

ANA, AZIMUTH, +122 more

Friday

ANA, AZIMUTH, Aegean Airlines, +121 more

ANA, AZIMUTH, +122 more

Saturday

ANA, AZIMUTH, Aegean Airlines, +117 more

ANA, AZIMUTH, +118 more

Sunday

ANA, AZIMUTH, Aegean Airlines, +123 more

ANA, AZIMUTH, +124 more

See more direct flights
See more direct flights

Top 5 airlines flying to Istanbul

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying to Istanbul. Airline scores are aggregated from all reviews left by passengers on KAYAK after flying with an airline from South Africa to Istanbul. KAYAK doesn’t show reviews that are older than 5 years. Learn how KAYAK collects reviews.
Need help choosing which airline to fly with to Istanbul? 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 3264 reviews
8,1Boarding
8,2Entertainment
7,8Food
8,3Crew
8,0Comfort
Airline reviews

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

10,0 ExcellentAnonymous, Mar 2025CPT - DXB
Read more Emirates reviews

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

Everything I was good except food quality is very poor

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.

It was great, a little more leg room would have been better particularly since we were in premium economy

Good food, real silverware, polite staff, smooth landing, charging plugs, good entertainment options.

Seat 💺 was all the way on last row. Food was okay .

Comfort and customer service from most if the crew was great. The crew reassigning passengers should consider the presence of infants when reassigning seats. Unfortunately a couple of oversized passengers were relocated next to us, making this segment a bit uncomfortable, as there was not only extra leg space required. I ended up swapping seats with my husband so our baby wouldn't be impacted. My husband travelled quite uncomfortable as the reassigned neighbour shoulder and arm ended up on my husband's seat

Ticket price is competitive, flight time is punctual, aircraft cabin is clean, food is average. Can improve on serving system of meals on a A380 airbus. I had only 15 min to eat my meal. There are lots of people to serve & took a while for food to make it down to my row.

Loved that I had an exit row seat, and there was no one else in the row! And again, I don' use on-line entertainment at all (I read or sleep) but I very much appreciate that I didn't hear anyone else's entertainment!

On this flight, about the last 2 hours the captain kept the cabin too hot. It appeared like the ac was off.

I had to stay in the airport 15 even with a hotel reservation..i was refused to inter to qatar cuz the hotel was outside the airport. They could have offered a solution. It was really exhausting for me and my family.

The Qatar Airways staff pre-boarding and also on the flight from Dallas to Doha were incredibly mediocre and arrogant. Consider retraining these individuals Other flights were ok.

I purchased Qatar airways after seeing ads about its service. To my surprise Qatar is marketing gimmick and horrible airlines which I don’t recommend to anyone Flight was dirty including flight from Miami to Doha And Doha airport restrooms are dirty On top of this they use this pathetic cheap indigo From Doha to Hyderabad which I will never fly Also they lost one of my baggage in Indigo and still waiting to receive it. I will never travel Qatar and will never recommend

Aircraft was spacious compared to American Airlines, food was great, entertainment was much better with a wide variety of options, and the crew was very polite.

Seat experience average as they use old 777 for must flights despite full load. Qr fares are higher than other airlines for same routes so they should at least upgrade the planes . Food is average and same dishes for months on most routes I travelled at least - the Arabian rice dish “Maqboos” on every flight for months - I am sure there are other food Arabian dishes ?? It’s become boring ! Crew is always good which makes up for these things but hey confirm us what we need

Moved seats, didn't accommodate requests to change seats even though other seats were available.

Do not overbook flights and kick out confirmed ticketed passengers :-(

Do I need to repeat my complaints about my lost carry on bag?

My carry on bag was taken by Alaska Air as we boarded in LAX! She said there was not room. There was plenty of room. I told her that my meds and personal items were in it. She did not care. She said it would be sent to my final destination, Nairobi. Well it got to Nairobi the day I was to fly home. The handle of my bag was crushed so could not retract. So I had to remove it. I had to buy converters, malaria medication. personal items. I filled out the missing form at the Nairobi airport. I asked that it be shipped to the Kisumu airport. When it was obviously not going to make it for my time in Kenya. I asked that it be sent to John Wayne Airport. NONE of that happened. I only knew it was at Nairobi because my air tag indicated it was finally in Nairobi the day I was leaving Kenya! Now I need to purchase a new carry on bag!!!

Overall experience was OK. Seats were truly uncomfortable for such a long flight. Food quality was mediocre at best. The staff was great though!

second leg was more comfortable. Customer service in Abu Dhabi is okay.

Etihad seems to have a very strict luggage enforcement. I am a very light passenger compared to other passengers which are mainly heavier. I do not understood why airlines enforce the weight restriction so strictly. I was overweight luggage of 1.5kg, but am probably 10+kg lighter than the average passenger. Other airlines are far more accommodating. Poor customer service as far as I am concerned. If weight is such an important issue to an airline they should charge passengers by total amount of body weight plus luggage. To me just ridiculous.

Crew Check-In – Kolkata (CCU) The crew handling check-in in Kolkata was outstanding—efficient, courteous, and highly organized. Flight Segment – CCU to Abu Dhabi (AUH) A standard flight overall. Notably, only one in-flight meal option—a vegetarian curry—was available, which seemed unsuitable for a red-eye journey. The crew offered no alternatives, which was unexpected. Flight Segment – Abu Dhabi to Rome (AUH-FCO) Comfort improved on this leg, but service quality was average, falling short of Etihad’s premium standards. Crew attention was heavily absorbed by a difficult couple in Row 15 (port side), resulting in disproportionate focus. It was concerning that a steward had to personally return to apologize, a task better suited for supervisory staff. This highlights a development opportunity for supervisors Anna and Quashim in managing guest escalation professionally.

Horrible. After paying for seats, I was cramped, my daughters legs kept hitting the seat in front, I had no overhead bin space and no help from stewards on board, the food was served cold, when asked for snacks was told to wait and never received any, the flight was cold with no temperature controls. Entertainment was outdated. I booked this through partnership with American Airlines but will avoid in the future.

Took a long time for boarding. The flight was comfortable.

The staff were wonderful but the seats weren't very comfortable for a bigger guy like me.

This flight was a dreamliner so I think the space was ok for the legs, but the option for food was again limited and the crew was same.

Bad. Flight was very uncomfortable with narrow and shallow seats, very little food and water. I will not fly etihad again.

Needs better seat for business class. My seat was falling apart. Also no WiFi on that flight

In never flown this flight, because my flight coning from Barcelona was delayed.

for the second time disappointed with TK, they like JAT = joke about time

No customer service. Non educated staff members with no will to support or service the passenger.

Working stuffs in flight are very welcoming,but boarding stuffs are the Ghana airport don't know their job.

My wife and 7 months old baby had a terrible experience traveling, we paid extra for bassinet they didn’t provided.she missed her flight due to late landing of the flight, they were unsupportive to my family due to that my wife and kid suffered a lot.

I’ve been traveling for 20 years. I tried Turkish airline for the first time horrible horrible service and it would be my last time even if I get offer for a free ticket, I will not accept it. They have races and the worst Flight attendant

Aircraft you use on this route are always old and poor! This drives the entire experience down

Boarding was much delayed, and there was no explanation ( obviously they were waiting for something or someone. ) Passengers were all crowded at the gate with anxiety. On the plane, the crew worked very hard on checking for safety and serving delicious food. They were polite and courteous.

It wasn't good. I didn’t understand. They changed 320 dollars for 2 luggage. My ticket was regular and I paid almost 1200.00 dollars. Why they did charge? I want my money back.. thanks Yılmaz polat

All was fine , but air conditioning was not working on board properly so was very hot

Very punctual, the onboard staff was friendly and correct, the flight was fortunately very calm, the toilets were clean, in short, an excellent experience Thanks

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

United was best airlines I have seen since I got there choose united airlines

It was wonderful best Air lines covert and all very happy with their service they have been very helpful and friendly

No Asian Vegetarian food was available on this sector but only fish and chicken and pasta were offered.

It was very bad experience with Ethiopian airlines . The flight was delayed in both ways . On the way coming back one of the crews dropped hot coffee on my whole body and other crew dropped used dirty glasses on top of me . The same crew that dropped hot coffee on me hit me with the food trolley on my knee while I was sleeping . I couldn’t sit properly due to the pain on my knee caused by those irresponsible crews . Very unprofessional airlines

The plane was overbooked and the crew was very rude. My luggage was never put on the plane. I got to NY and waited 2 hours just to find out that my luggage was left.

My experience was great. The flight attendants were very helpful and nice, and the food was very good.

The ailine departed and arrived late foe every leg of the trip, causing myself and my travel companions to miss every connecting flight. It was very unorganized given theat there was a lot of miscommunication. The flights offered are unrealistic and when you call they assure you that the plane waits for you. I missed an. entire day of my vacation and any entire day of rest back home because of the airline. I do not plan to support the airline again. Thank you

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 .

Everything you need to know for your flight to Istanbul

Cabin class types available on flights to Istanbul

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

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