kulula.com

kulula.com
IATA ICAO Callsign
MN CAW COMMERCIAL
Founded 2001
Hubs OR Tambo International Airport
Fleet size 10
Destinations 6
Parent company Comair
Headquarters Bonaero Park, Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, South Africa
Key people Erik Venter
Website kulula.com

kulula.com, sometimes simply known as kulula, (from the Nguni languages of Zulu and Xhosa, meaning It's easy[lower-alpha 1]) is a South African low-cost airline, operating on major domestic routes from O. R. Tambo International Airport and Lanseria International Airport, both just outside Johannesburg.[1] The airline's headquarters are located at Bonaero Park, Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng.[2]

History

kulula.com was established in July 2001 and started operations as South Africa's first 'no-frills' carrier in August of that year. The stated aim was to position kulula.com as more than just an airline brand, but to include booking, paying and making 'the complete travel experience' affordable.[3]

In 2010 kulula.com was forced by FIFA to stop a campaign describing itself as the "Unofficial National Carrier of the You-Know-What",[4][5] which took place "Not next year, not last year, but somewhere in between",[6] obviously referring to the 2010 FIFA World Cup which took place in South Africa at that time. Another advert announced "affordable flights [to] everybody except Sepp Blatter" (the FIFA president), who was offered a free seat "for the duration of that thing that is happening right now".[7]

In July 2012 kulula announced[8] that it was operating the first of seven brand new Boeing 737-800s, with three to be in operation before the end of that year, and the remaining four to be delivered in 2015 and 2016.

Corporate affairs

Ownership

kulula.com is not a separate company, but is a trading name of Comair,[3] which also operates flights as a franchisee of British Airways.

Financial and operational results for kulula.com are not separately disclosed, but are fully incorporated within the annual results for Comair (for years ending 30 June).

Destinations

As of September 2016 Kulula.com serves the following domestic destinations:[9]

Codeshare agreements

Kulula.com codeshares with the following airlines:

Fleet

A kulula.com Boeing 737-400.
The kulula.com Boeing 737-800 Flying 101 livery

Current fleet

As of October 2018, the kulula.com fleet consists of the following aircraft:[11]

kulula Fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
Boeing 737-400 1 —
162
Boeing 737-800 9 —
186/189
Total 10 —

Historical fleet

Kulula.com has operated the following models in the past:

Livery

Kulula.com has become known for its distinctive, brightly coloured and often humorous aircraft livery.[12] One of its former aircraft, known as Flying 101, was covered with a legend describing the different parts of the aircraft.[13]

Services

Loyalty programme

Kulula.com operates the Avios frequent-flyer programme, which was created from the merger of the Air Miles, BA Miles and Iberia Plus Points schemes on 16 November 2011. A restructure in 2015 meant that all of IAG's affiliated loyalty programmes which use Avios, including Avios Travel Reward Programme, Iberia Plus and British Airways Executive Club were transferred to Avios Group, an IAG subsidiary.[14][15]

Inflight services

kulula.com offers food and drinks as a buy-on-board programme.[16] The in-flight magazine khuluma, has a readership base of 200,000 per month.

See also

  • Mango, a South African low cost airline

Notes

  1. ↑ This "word" is made of the general verbal present particle ku- and the root lula: easy or light (both easy and not heavy).

References

  1. ↑ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-03. p. 103.
  2. ↑ "Contact Us". kulula.com. Retrieved 6 February 2011. .
  3. 1 2 "The Comair Story - Launching kulula.com". Comair Limited. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  4. ↑ "Fifa [sic] orders South African airline to drop 'ambush' ad". bbc.co.uk. 19 March 2010. .
  5. ↑ "Picture", Flickr, Yahoo! .
  6. ↑ The advert, Facebook .
  7. ↑ The advert, Facebook .
  8. ↑ "kulula celebrates first of its brand new fleet". kulula.com. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  9. ↑ "Routes - kulula.com". www.kulula.com. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  10. ↑ https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/278961/klm-kulula-begins-codeshare-partnership-from-late-may-2018/
  11. 1 2 3 "Kulula.com Fleet Details and History". planespotters.net. 13 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018. .
  12. ↑ Wien, Kent (2010-01-30). "Kulula-air tries not to take itself too seriously". Gadling. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
  13. ↑ Fawkes, Piers (2010-02-03). "Kulula Airplane Rebranding". PSFK. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
  14. ↑ "About Avios". Avios. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  15. ↑ "Helping Avios analyse huge data sets to boost transparency and growth". PwC. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  16. ↑ "Flight info." kulula.com. Accessed 6 May 2009.

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