Kulula Air, the recently re-branded kulula.com, is a highly popular low-fare domestic air travel provider in South Africa thanks, in part, to its edgy and humorous marketing message.

In business since 2001, Kulula is owned by Conair Limited. It was named the best domestic airline by the Airport Company of South Africa in 2003 and operates a fleet of Boeing 737s with the following routes: Johannesburg to:

Cape Town Durbs George PE Lusaka Harare Windhoek Ndola Cape Town to: Johannesburg Durbs PE Lanseria Durbs to: Johannesburg Cape Town PE George to Johannesburg PE to: Johannesburg Cape Town Durbs Lusaka to Johannesburg Harare to Johannesburg Windhoek to Johannesburg Lanseria to Cape Town Ndola to Johannesburg.

Travelers receive seat assignments at check-in.

Kulula began by offering flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town. Over the next few years, its route map incorporated destinations in Durban and Port Elizabeth while its number of flights in operation increased. International destinations now include, Blomfontein, Windhoek, Harare, Ndlola, Lusaka and Mauritius.

Recently, South African online shoppers bought some 55,000 airline tickets for R27 million as part of Kulula's 'garage sale." Kulula's mega-website (kulula.com is the country's largest online retailer, handling more than R1.6 billion annually) processed up to 150 flight quotes per second during the shopping frenzy's peak hours. Nearly 145,000 visitors viewed more than one million web pages, shopping for travel specials from October 2008 through January 2009.

Even though Kulula takes a laid back approach, the company has a strong commitment to customer satisfaction. It has imposed a 90% on-time take-off rate goal. According to the company's own records, it has not reached that 90% goal, but is making every effort to eliminate "avoidable delays," those which the company has control over. They do often manage an on-time take-off rate in the high 80s.

With an eye toward simplification and living up to its name (Kulula comes from the Zulu word for "easy"), Kulula Air also offers services to hire a car, book a room or cab easily and affordably. The Kulula website offers even more options, as the brand has branched out into other lines such as cell phones and internet access.

In an effort to provide a full travel experience, Kulula offers easy self-booking on its website. Purchases on a Kulula credit card earns "Kulula Moola" which can be redeemed to purchase flights, and Kulula also offers a Jetsetter rewards program for frequent flyers.

Kulula strives to set itself apart from other airlines. It's unlikely you will forget the Kulula flight during which you heard the flight attendant say, "There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways off this airplane." Or, how about your captain saying "Whoa, boy!" as the plane comes in for a landing? Kulula's planes also sport unique paint schemes such as "cow" and "camo." This airline also promotes environmental issues. One reason it changed its fleet to Boeing 737s is that they consume less fuel than their original fleet of MD82s.