kulula.com

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

Kulula.com
IATA ICAO Callsign
MN CAW COMAIR
Founded6 July 2001 (2001-07-06)
HubsOR Tambo International Airport
Fleet size10
Destinations6
Parent companyComair
HeadquartersBonaero Park, Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, South Africa
Key peopleWrenelle Stander
Websitekulula.com

History

Kulula was established in July 2001 and commenced 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 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.

Kulula.com and parent company Comair suspended operations towards the end of March 2020 due to financial constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline plans to resume operations by December 2020.

Corporate affairs

Ownership

Kulula is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comair Ltd,[3] which also operates flights as a franchisee of British Airways. Kulula.com, the British Airways franchise Southern Africa and Comair Ltd suspended operations in July 2020 due to financial issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Both Kulula and the British Airways franchise operated by Comair plans to resume operations by December 2020.


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 March 2019, Kulula serves the following destinations:[9]

Province City Airport Notes
Eastern Cape East London East London Airport
Eastern Cape Port Elizabeth Port Elizabeth International Airport
Gauteng Johannesburg O. R. Tambo International Airport Hub
Lanseria International Airport Hub
KwaZulu-Natal Durban King Shaka International Airport
Western Cape Cape Town Cape Town International Airport
Western Cape George George Airport

Kulula holds codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

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

As of October 2018, the Kulula fleet consists of the following aircraft:[12]

kulula Fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers
(Economy)		 Notes
Boeing 737-400 1 —
162
Boeing 737-800 9 —
186
189
Total 10 0
A former Kulula MD-82, acquired by the airline in 2004.[13]

Historical fleet

Kulula previously operated the following aircraft:

Liveries

Kulula has become known for its distinctive, brightly coloured, and often comedic aircraft liveries.[15] One of its former aircraft, known as Flying 101, was covered with a legend describing the different parts of the aircraft.[16]

Services

Loyalty programme

Kulula 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.[17][18]

Inflight services

Kulula offers food and drinks as a buy-on-board programme.[19] The airline’s in-flight magazine, khuluma, has a readership base of 200,000 per month.

See also

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. 3 April 2007. p. 103.
  2. "Contact Us". kulula.com. Retrieved 6 February 2011..
  3. "The Comair Story - Launching kulula.com". Comair Limited. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  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 9 September 2013.
  9. "Routes - kulula.com". www.kulula.com. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  10. "Routes - kulula.com". www.kulula.com. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  11. https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/278961/klm-kulula-begins-codeshare-partnership-from-late-may-2018/
  12. "Kulula.com Fleet Details and History". planespotters.net. 13 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018..
  13. "1Time Airline ZS-OBK (McDonnell Douglas MD-80/90 - MSN 49115) (Ex F-GPZE OE-LDY ) | Airfleets aviation". www.airfleets.net. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  14. Kulula’s fleet history per its corporate website.
  15. Wien, Kent (30 January 2010). "Kulula-air tries not to take itself too seriously". Gadling. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  16. Fawkes, Piers (3 February 2010). "Kulula Airplane Rebranding". PSFK. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  17. "About Avios". Avios. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  18. "Helping Avios analyse huge data sets to boost transparency and growth". PwC. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  19. "Flight info." kulula.com. Accessed 6 May 2009.

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