new kulula routes

[springbok702]

kulula’s flights to leap from Lanseria

Jo’burg, 22 August 2007. kulula.com, which is celebrating its sixth birthday, has announced that it will be increasing its flights from Lanseria airport from 29 October 2007 by adding frequencies to existing routes as well as adding two new destinations out of that airport.
The new flights will increase the airline’s capacity from Lanseria by over 80% and it’s overall capacity by 20%.
The current Cape Town service will be increased from one flight to three flights per day return. The airline will also launch flights to Durbs and Port Elizabeth starting with two flights and one return flight per day respectively.
Avi Bhatt, the airline’s executive manager responsible for route development says, “not only is kulula.com growing in leaps and bounds but our fans’ response to our flights out of Lanseria has been great. Also, the lower charges at Lanseria will help us keep our fares low.”
Gavin Sayce, Lanseria’s airport manager adds, “Lanseria is conveniently located for Jo’burg’s northern and western suburbs as well as Pretoria residents, who often comment on our ample parking and easy check in facilities.”
kulula.com is the first African airline to follow international trends of low fare carriers using secondary airports as part of their business models.
The airline is planning several other new routes from Lanseria using its new fleet of fuel-efficient Boeing 737-400s which will replace the older fuel-inefficient MD-82s.

[PAXboy]

Well .. I hope they improve the training programme for their customer service staff.

In March of this year, when I was making final plans for a trip in April, I asked them about their flights between Lanseria and Cape Town and was engaged in an email Q & A with their support people. In my posts, I used the four letter ICAO codes, rather than the IATA codes that Pax normally use. Here is the email I received back from Kulula:

Hi kulula.com fan

I have checked all the airport codes, airline codes and city codes, and cannot find where FAJS or FALA and FACT are. Please advise where you are traveling from and to so we can assist you with your query!

Bye for now
Beth.
kulula.com
0861 KULULA (585852)

I did not bother to reply and used Comair down and Mango back up.

[SA747]

Although I think its great that Kulula is expanding, I would rather fly with 1Time in future. Every time I've booked to fly with Kulula (+/-10 times in last 6 months), I have not yet being flown in a Kulula aircraft. Everytime I check in, I get bumped onto other flights operated either by Comair, SAA or even Mango. Excuses given range from "flight overbooked","aircraft gone tech" or "flight cancelled". I cannot see how they can continue to operate when their passengers are continually being inconvienced like this.

Another gripe, if it so much cheaper to fly from Lanseria, why are the fares from Lanseria always more expensive that from Johannesburg. I thought the whole idea was to pass the savings to the passengers.

Cheers

[springbok702]

the airfares are much of a muchness but the airport taxes are R52 at jhb and R39 at lanseira!

[grgplanes]

In the end the airport taxes is also just cheaper if you fly FROM lanseria, NOT TO lanseria, because the advertised taxes from CPT-JNB is R52 as well as CPT-HLA. But hey, kulula is clever to show us this awfully expensive taxes and how we can see that ACSA is ripping us off... So much for paying R13 less in taxes from Lanseria after you pay roundabout R100 more for the ticket. Starting price for Kulula JNB-CPT is R249, while HLA-CPT if R404...so sorry, actually R155 more, but hey you save R13 in taxes...
I also prefer 1Time, their MDs actually look much shinier and newer (even though they're not), and they're not going on about their so called brand new fleet which will replace the MD before the end of the year...even though the current rate of replacement is about 1 every 5 months...as the date is now...even though there isn't any other 734s on the horizon?

[Mark J B]

From what I read in Airnews, those taxes from ACSA airports are about to sky rocket. So the difference between the taxes for flights from Joburg vs Lanseria will become more significant.

As for the comments about being bumped off Kulula flights onto other carriers, it is unfortunately the reality of the teething problems in phasing out the MD82's. They are being removed from service but there has been delays in receiving the replacement B737's.
Poor planning, but it will improve fairly quickly once the replacements come on line. We hope you will continue to persevere with Kulula, because it allows guys like me to do what we love most, FLY!:)

[springbok702]

Starting price for Kulula JNB-CPT is R249, while HLA-CPT if R404...so sorry, actually R155 more, but hey you save R13 in taxes...
i depends when you book for the flight , the earlier the cheaper from both jhb and lanseria.
a random check for jhb to durban is R329 each way and from lanseria on the same day to durban is R199
swings and roundabouts!

[PAXboy]

SA747
if it so much cheaper to fly from Lanseria, why are the fares from Lanseria always more expensive that from Johannesburg. I thought the whole idea was to pass the savings to the passengers. Not sure to put the smiley of an MD laughing his head off: :} Or the Finance Director looking shifty: :E

It would appear that they are 'selling' the convenience and speed of moving through HLA, rather than JNB. For folks who live closer to HLA the advantage in time and petrol will be significant and probably worth the extra money.

Secondly, by starting with high fares, they can have a big advertising push next year when they lower the fees. :rolleyes:

Either way, developing HLA makes sense. When I visited in April/May, I was surprised that they only had one rotation a day to CPT (possibly two but the fares were high and the timings set for biz pax doing the day trip). The connecting traffic at JNB is massive and not surprising that all the new boys want to be there.