Not many know about Kulula Airlines, the South African low-fare airline that only travels in and around a handful of African countries, but with the airliner going to great lengths to demonstrate its humor inside and outside of its airplanes, maybe Kulula Airlines can turn some heads, gain some attention and even expand in the process.

Kulula Airlines was founded in July 2001 as a low-cost subsidiary of British Airways franchise Comair, with Comair listed on the local exchange and British Airways retaining an 11 percent stake in the business. But even with a low budget, the South African airliner is finding new ways to attract attention and customers.

After 11 years since launching, Kulula Airlines has actually become the No. 2 carrier in South Africa, thanks to eye-catching ad campaigns that depict ordinary flyers as superheroes, under their slogan, Now anyone can fly. Now, the airline is going even further with humor, using it both inside and outside the plane.

Humour has been part of Kulula from day one, said Heidi Braurer, Kulula's marketing chief. It is well to be easy and funky, but this is serious business, too.

Inside the plane, Kulula takes a page from Southwest Airlines, adding wisecracks into the otherwise-bland pre-flight safety demonstration. For instance, you might hear a flight attendant say upon departure, In case you have two children, choose the one you love the most to help him or her first. Or upon arrival: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Cape Town. You can disembark in a moment, except for the hunk in 13A, who is welcome to stay.

They are encouraged to be interacting and original, but not insulting to anybody, Braurer said. We don't hire them as comedians, we hire them as flight attendants.

But outside the plane's cabin, Kulula is turning heads and making a name for itself in the process. The company has become very liberal with their exterior decoration, painting some planes with cows, signs that read This Way Up, and even adding arrows that point out each individual feature of the plane, including the black box, the seats, the back door, the nose cone, and even where the co-captain sits. It's highly unusual for an airliner to not take itself so seriously, and people are noticing.

We couldn't guarantee that we would always be cheapest, especially as the national carrier (South African Airways) in South Africa has had a history of cost-cutting to drive out new entrants to the market, Brauer said. [But] with a tiny budget, we needed to be seen.

In the last decade, Kulula has managed to claim 20 percent of South Africa's domestic market, transporting more than 2.4 million passengers a year.

It is a very good case study, said David Blyth, a marketing manager at Yellowwood, an ad agency based in Cape Town, South Africa. It is a very difficult market, very competitive, he said. What they did very cleverly is giving humour, bringing an ambiance: as a passenger, you think you are a personality, you get more for the same price.

Kulula may be in trouble, however, as Comair just announced its first-ever financial loss recently. The company will need to face this obstacle and many more to come, including issues like increasing costs on fuel and airport access, but at least Kulula will do it all with a smile.

Kulula loves to have fun with its airplane designs. In case you didnt know the different parts of an airplane, this jet tells you what everything is. Heres a view from the right side of the plane, which also tells you where the cargo door goes and where
Kulula loves to have fun with its airplane designs. In case you didn't know the different parts of an airplane, this jet tells you what everything is. Here's a view from the right side of the plane, which also tells you where the cargo door goes and where the fuel tanks are located. Courtesy
Dont worry Kulula, nobodys going to notice your camouflaged jumbo jet on the runway.
Don't worry Kulula, nobody's going to notice your camouflaged jumbo jet on the runway. Courtesy
In case you didnt know the different parts of an airplane, Kulula Airlines has marked its own jet to tell you what everything is. Here, you can see where quotthe big cheesequot sits and where they make the coffee.
In case you didn't know the different parts of an airplane, Kulula Airlines has marked its own jet to tell you what everything is. Here, you can see where "the big cheese" sits and where they make the coffee. Courtesy
In case you didnt know the different parts of an airplane, Kulula Airlines has marked its own jet to tell you what everything is. Here, you can see where the co-captain sits, and what fits inside the nose cone of the plane.
In case you didn't know the different parts of an airplane, Kulula Airlines has marked its own jet to tell you what everything is. Here, you can see where the co-captain sits, and what fits inside the nose cone of the plane. Courtesy
In case you didnt know the different parts of an airplane, Kulula Airlines has marked its own jet to tell you what everything is. Here is the left side of the plane, which shows the locations of the jump seat and the avionics, and to be funny, Kulula als
In case you didn't know the different parts of an airplane, Kulula Airlines has marked its own jet to tell you what everything is. Here is the left side of the plane, which shows the locations of the jump seat and the avionics, and to be funny, Kulula also points out the engine and the windows too. Courtesy
In case you didnt know the different parts of an airplane, Kulula Airlines has marked its own jet to tell you what everything is. Another view from the left side of the plane, which shows the locations of the jump seat, the avionics, and to be funny, als
In case you didn't know the different parts of an airplane, Kulula Airlines has marked its own jet to tell you what everything is. Another view from the left side of the plane, which shows the locations of the jump seat, the avionics, and to be funny, also the engine and the windows. Courtesy
In case you didnt know the different parts of an airplane, Kulula Airlines has marked its own jet to tell you what everything is. Another view from the right side of the plane, which shows the location of the orange quotblackquot box, the landing gea
In case you didn't know the different parts of an airplane, Kulula Airlines has marked its own jet to tell you what everything is. Another view from the right side of the plane, which shows the location of the orange "black" box, the landing gear with "supa-fly mags," and where the Kulula fans sit, "the coolest peeps in the world." Courtesy
In case you didnt know the different parts of an airplane, Kulula Airlines has marked its own jet to tell you what everything is. Another view from the right side of the plane, which shows the rear galley, the quotsecret agent code,quot and where the
In case you didn't know the different parts of an airplane, Kulula Airlines has marked its own jet to tell you what everything is. Another view from the right side of the plane, which shows the rear galley, the "secret agent code," and where the "boot space" is. Courtesy
In case you didnt know the different parts of an airplane, Kulula Airlines has marked its own jet to tell you what everything is. Another view from the left side of the plane, which shows the loo, the rear stabilizer, the tail, and the rudder.
In case you didn't know the different parts of an airplane, Kulula Airlines has marked its own jet to tell you what everything is. Another view from the left side of the plane, which shows the loo, the rear stabilizer, the tail, and the rudder. Courtesy
In case you didnt know the different parts of an airplane, Kulula Airlines has marked its own jet to tell you what everything is. On this particular model, Kulula uses humor to tell people which side of the plane should be up, which this slogan also doub
In case you didn't know the different parts of an airplane, Kulula Airlines has marked its own jet to tell you what everything is. On this particular model, Kulula uses humor to tell people which side of the plane should be up, which this slogan also doubly works to explain the only direction that the plane and the airline are headed. Courtesy
On this particular plane, Kulula uses humor to tell people which side of the plane should be up, which also doubly works to explain the only direction that the plane and the airline are headed. Here, we see Kulula ready for take-off.
On this particular plane, Kulula uses humor to tell people which side of the plane should be up, which also doubly works to explain the only direction that the plane and the airline are headed. Here, we see Kulula ready for take-off. Courtesy
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