Kulula | kulula.com
kulula traditionally has unconventional livery on its planes, in keeping with its off-beat approach.
Kulula airline is a domestic airline in South Africa which offers low-cost flights. It is known alternately as “kulula.com” or “Kulula Air”. It is entirely owned by Comair (which is, in turn, a subsidiary of British Airways). Kulula only services five airports in South Africa, and they are:
- OR Tambo International Airport (Johannesburg)
- Lanseria Airport (Johannesburg)
- Cape Town International Airport (Cape Town)
- King Shaka International Airport (Durban)
- George Airport (George)
Kulula was established in 2001, and the name is a local Zulu word meaning “easily”. The kulula fleet consists of eleven aircraft (with eight on order to be delivered between 2012 and 2015) and they are decked out in splashed green livery, sometimes daubed with humorous messages, such as a prominent label with an arrow indicating the cockpit window describing the captain (pilot) as “the big cheese”. This type of light-hearted irreverence also extends to the flight announcements. This may not be to everyone’s taste.
In-flight food and drink is offered on a buy-on-board basis. Unlike other low-cost domestic carriers, kulula has a frequent flyer program (Jetsetters). Please note that kulula only offers economy-class seating.
kulula flies above the tallest inhabitants of the South African bush!
Kulula is the low-cost airline with the highest market share, second only to South African Airways (SAA), which is not a low-cost operation (see the page on Mango for SAA’s low-cost offering). Kulula transports about 50 000 passengers per week.
If you book a ticket with kulula you may also be transferred to a British Airways flight at short notice, although there shouldn’t be any extra charge if that happens. Check-in is done at the British Airways counter in the airport.
