On Tuesday 2 September 2008, Kulula will relaunch itself as part of a strategy to expand the company’s brand appeal, online presence, and product portfolio. Their new look will be unveiled in conjunction with the company’s revenue diversification strategy, including three distinct sub-brands to support the company’s growth within the country’s travel sector.

“In the last seven years, we have earned the respect of South African consumers and business people through our efforts to introduce more accessible travel options and innovative products such as the kulula credit card,” says Gidon Novick, joint CEO of Comair (kulula.com).

“Our trusted online brand is the basis for us to offer more cost-effective products.”

As part of the comprehensive online offering, kulula.com will include three different and corresponding brands:

Kulula air will allow you to book a flight, car or hotel stay; kulula travel allows you to book all-inclusive holidays and adventure packages; and kulula connect will enable customers to order simple and cost-effective communication products and services, including mobile Internet access and cell phones.

All of the new products will offer kulula customers the chance to earn kulula moulah toward free kulula flights, linking into kulula’s jetsetter club, kululu’s complimentary and trouble-free loyalty programme.

Marketing manager for kulula, Nadine Damen, said the company’s energizing new look emphasizes the respected kulula name in a more dynamic fashion and broadens the brand’s appeal. “Each with their own distinctive colours, the new sub-brands give us more flexibility to associate kulula with a wider array of products. Our fresh new look represents kulula’s optimism, simplicity and playfulness, something that will continue to be reflected in our advertising.”

Using the kulula green as a common element, each sub-brand has its own distinctive complementary colour. Set at a 10% incline – a similar angle at which planes take-off – the new corporate identity is active and motivating, with a cleaner, simpler look.

The new brand platform for kulula was created in affiliation with the Johannesburg office of Brand Union. Anthony Swart, CEO of Brand Union, said,” As an iconic South African brand, kulula represents youthfulness and independence. In repositioning their brand, The Brand Union eagerly accepted the challenge of conveying kulula’s distinctive values, personality and somewhat irreverent culture in a refreshing manner to a number of new markets and sectors.”

Source: www.bizcommunity.com

The Academy is run by an ex SAFAir Captain and most of the staff are ex SAA pilots. The Academy is very popular with learners coming from all over South Africa and from overseas as well. The Academy is based in the town of George, which is a beautiful area on the renowned Garden Route.

The Academy has seven aircraft and all the instructors are fully qualified to SA Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) requirements.

The Private Pilots Licence (PPL) is taken on either the Cessna 152 or the Piper Tomahowk. It is an eight week course and should be completed in that time. However it may take a little longer if adverse weather conditions prevail. 45 hours is the minimum requirement to obtain your PPL. This is subject to instructor recommendations. 90% of students finish within this time frame.

Getting there is easy with frequent flights to George and a wide variety of accommodation is available.

For more information visit: www.travellersworldwide.com

South African Airways has been awarded with the “Best Airline in Africa” and “Best Cabin Crew in Africa” prizes at the World Airline Awards.

The awards based on the yearly World Airline Survey conducted by Skytrax measures over 35 different aspects of passenger satisfaction for an airline’s product and service standards, and is recognized as being a global, independent survey that handle over 15 million passengers’ feedback regarding airline standards.

SAA’s recent upgrade of the A340-300 and -600 aircraft contributed to its success at the awards. SAA now offers 29 extra titles on its in-flight movies list, ranging from popcorn blockbusters to culturally diverse options including South African and Hindi choices.

The upgraded aircraft operate SAA’s service form Washington and New York to Johannesburg and each seat on board includes a personal, on-demand entertainment system with the full range of upgraded content, as well as good quality food, complementary South African wine and amenity kits.

SAA offers the only non-stop service form the U.S. to South Africa with daily departures form Washington D.C and New York.

“Travellers in premium class enjoy 180 degree fully flat-bed seats, and in economy class enjoy the most legroom versus competitors.” SAA said in a statement earlier this week.

SAA also received the “Best Airline to Africa” award by Executive Travel Magazine and Weekly Globe Awards.

“We continue to be honoured by the fact that our customers and industry colleagues are recognizing our efforts to offer the best service to Africa,” said Marc Cavaliere, Executive Vice President, North America for South African Airways. “One can’t go wrong by working tirelessly to improve one’s service and offerings, and we continue to work to that end.”

Source: www.modernoptimist.co.za

South African Airways fired a woman who passed all the tests to be an air hostess and even learned to swim after she was diagnosed HIV-positive.

The 30-year-old has taken the airline to court, three years after being fired, in an attempt to get back the job she trained for as well as for back pay.

SAA maintains that no employee is fired for being HIV-positive, unlike the woman who claims, in paper before the Johannesburg Labour Court, that she lost her job three months after being diagnosed.

Medical tests are part of employment procedure and have to be submitted to an independent panel compromising military and private aviation experts. This panel then issues a medical certificate declaring the employee fit to fly.

The woman never got this clearance certificate and three months after she was diagnosed, the airline fired her as “she could not obtain the legally required medical certificate.”

In defense SAA said it was simply applying a legal regulation that staff had to be “medically fit”.

“SAA operates in a strictly regulated environment and we are bound by the legal safety requirements of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA),”said SAA acting group corporate affairs head Sarah Uys.

“Any crew member who is not fit for flying and ill, whether it is bronchitis or any other illness, will be grounded until such time that they have been given a medical certificate,” Uys said.

According to the woman she passed all the qualifying practical and theoretical tests required by SAA and had even learned to swim for this job.

After discovering she was HIV-positive she did not fear her job was in jeopardy. Her HIV and an autoimmune disease she contracted were both under control, she claimed in court papers.

Furthermore, SAA had punted an HIV-management programme for its staff to the trainees and she had been told that HIV was not a bar to the job.

However, 10 days after she was diagnosed, the medical panel found her temporarily unfit. Three months later, SAA fired her after the panel refused to give her a medical certificate.

“I was doing everything they asked me to. It was such an ordeal. I felt so humiliated. To be HIV-positive does not mean you are incompetent,” said the woman.

Reynaud Daniels, her lawyer, said SAA was shifting the blame to the CAA, which is also defending the action.

“It is a bit of a cop-out. If the CAA regulations are unlawful, SAA as an employer must take responsibility for it. SAA is responsible to the employee,” Daniels said.

Source: www.thetimes.co.za

The South African Consulate General in Dubai stated that there has been a 123percent increase in UAE nationals visiting South Africa in June and July 2008 compared to last year’s figures.

According to Rajendran Vellapalath, South African Airways Middle East Manager, “There has been a considerable increase in the movement of passengers traveling to South Africa from the Middle East compared to last year. The same has been reflected in the number of passengers taking South African Airways to South Africa. Due to increased demand from this part of the world, our capacity from the Middle East to South Africa has been raised by 81 per cent.”

This increase in capacity proves that South Africa is becoming more popular as a destination whether it is for business or tourism.

Flights form Dubai to Johannesburg and Cape Town is handled by Emirates, flights form Cairo to Johannesburg is handled by Egypt Air and flights from Jeddah to Johannesburg are handled by Saudi Arabian Airlines. These code-share agreements allow SAA to make all these flights possible.

Source: www.gulfnews.com