Kulula celebrates first of new fleet
2012-07-20 08:21
Video
2012-07-20 10:06
Watch this mesmerising video of Kulula's brand new Boeing 737-800 being put together quickly. WATCH
Johannesburg, 20 July 2012: This week South Africa’s no frills
airline, kulula.com, operated by Comair Limited, celebrates the arrival
of the first of seven spanking new Boeing Next-Generation 737-800’s.
This aircraft heralds a new phase for the flight operator and by end of
the year it will have three new 737-800’s in operation throughout the
country to add to its five leased 737-800’s. This will give kulula the
youngest fleet in Southern Africa, with an average age of about five
years.
The operator has come a long way since its launch in
2001 with one leased aircraft, one route and a handful of passengers. By
end 2012 it will operate eight aircraft in total, carrying 2.8 million
passengers over 12 routes across the region. The R2,5-billion investment
in its fleet upgrade is fundamental to Comair's business strategy of
consistently improving customer service and value, while ensuring a
sustainable airline.
Commenting on its substantial investment,
CEO of Comair Limited, Erik Venter says, “The new 737-800’s utilise 18
percent less fuel per seat than the aircraft we are replacing, thereby
saving two million-litres of fuel per aircraft per year for the
equivalent total seats. Our decision to purchase these highly fuel
efficient aircraft was not taken lightly and is a critical component in
managing our exposure to the volatile fuel price.”
Venter
added that the new Boeing 737-800 aircraft will also require
significantly less maintenance than the existing fleet, allowing for
higher utilisation and lower operating costs.
“The
sustainability of an airline is driven by its ability to generate
sufficient profits to allow for reinvestment in its infrastructure and
assets. The ownership of aircraft as opposed to leasing thereof will
significantly contribute to our profit/reinvestment cycle, and Comair’s
history of more than 60 years of operating profitably can largely be
ascribed to us owning at least 50% of our fleet. While this does add to
the long term debt on Comair's balance sheet, it is not onerous when
compared to the comparative lease obligations on the aircraft that are
being replaced.”
“We are managing our assets very actively and
will continue to do so - an example of this is that we decided to
pre-sell the fourth aircraft, due for delivery in December, to an
aircraft lease company due to pressure brought on by the poor trading
conditions in the first half of the 2012 financial year.”
Congratulating Comair on its latest acquisition, Robert Faye, director
of Sales for Africa at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, says that the Boeing
737-800 Next Generation is a perfect fit for kulula’s business model.
“High fuel prices and maintenance costs are putting severe pressure on
the total operating costs of airlines across the world and the new
aircraft is designed to meet the needs of carriers like kulula.”
The three new Seattle-built aircraft, which will be in operation before
the end of the year, have been financed partly through equity (15%) as
well as an 85% loan backed by USA-based Export-Import Bank, arranged
through Investec Bank. The next four Boeings ordered by Comair will be
delivered in 2015 and 2016.
All of Comair's pilots have been
trained extensively on the new aircraft as the operator invested in a
new Boeing 737-800 flight training
