Kulula.com


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. The airline's headquarters are located at Bonaero Park, Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. The name 'Kulula' comes from the Nguni languages of Zulu and Xhosa, meaning It's easy.

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.
In 2010, Kulula was forced by FIFA to stop a campaign describing itself as the "Unofficial National Carrier of the You-Know-What", which took place "Not next year, not last year, but somewhere in between", obviously referring to the 2010 FIFA World Cup which took place in South Africa at that time. Another advert announced "affordable flights everybody except Sepp Blatter", who was offered a free seat "for the duration of that thing that is happening right now".
In July 2012 kulula announced 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 is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comair, which also operates flights as a franchisee of British Airways.

Business trends

Financial and operational results for kulula.com are not separately disclosed, but are fully incorporated within the annual results for Comair.

Destinations

As of March 2019, Kulula serves the following destinations:
ProvinceCityAirportNotes
Eastern CapeEast LondonEast London Airport
Eastern CapePort ElizabethPort Elizabeth International Airport
GautengJohannesburgO. R. Tambo International Airport
GautengJohannesburgLanseria International Airport
KwaZulu-NatalDurbanKing Shaka International Airport
Western CapeCape TownCape Town International Airport
Western CapeGeorgeGeorge Airport

Kulula holds codeshare agreements with the following airlines:
As of October 2018, the Kulula fleet consists of the following aircraft:


Historical fleet

Kulula previously operated the following aircraft:
Kulula has become known for its distinctive, brightly coloured, and often comedic aircraft liveries. One of its former aircraft, known as Flying 101, was covered with a legend describing the different parts of the aircraft.

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.

Inflight services

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