Claim: Photographs show an airliner with a ‘Flying 101’ exterior design.

TRUE

Example: [Collected via e-mail, March 2010]



Flying 101 Flying 101 Kulula is a low-cost South-African airline that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Check out their new livery.





Origins: Kulula is a Johannesburg-based airline known for its quirky sense of business humor, one expression of which is the unusual liveries that adorn its airplanes. In February 2010 the airline put into service a Boeing 737-800 with a ‘Flying 101’ livery (shown above) that featured amusing exterior markings identifying the various parts of the aircraft:





kulula’s latest plane design has been a worldwide hit after being seen by plane-spotters en-route to South Africa. Photos of the new livery dubbed ‘Flying 101’ have since been viewed by millions having appeared on some of the world’s leading blogs, spurring a frenzy of online comments. All this before it even touched down in South Africa. kulula’s latest plane design has been a worldwide hit after being seen by plane-spotters en-route to South Africa. Photos of the new livery dubbed ‘Flying 101’ have since been viewed by millions having appeared on some of the world’s leading blogs, spurring a frenzy of online comments. All this before it even touched down in South Africa. The design covers the planes exterior in a tongue-in-cheek guide to the various parts of the planes interior, such as the ‘Mile-high initiation chamber’. The plane is just

one of a fleet expansion of eight state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800s (each with a unique livery). As these planes will be replacing the 737-400’s currently used in kulula’s fleet, South Africans can look forward to spotting the new 800’s during this year. “The ‘Flying 101’ was conceptualised and designed by kulula’s in-house design department. This branding idea is a result of our 2010 strategy to demystify air travel for our fans,” comments Nadine Damen, kulula Marketing Manager. “Initially spotted by plane-spotters across the globe, our ‘Flying 101’ plane has become famous on the world wide web before touching South African soil,” continues Damen. “We’ve been amazed by the number of blogs that have posted ‘Flying 101’ images as well as the large number of people talking about the new branding on Twitter.” The first Boeing, branded with the ‘Flying 101,’ landed in Johannesburg on Monday, 8th February 2010 and will start operating from 13th February 2010.





Additional views of the ‘Flying 101’ airplane can be viewed in kulula’s photo gallery, which also includes pictures of some of their other liveries such as the ‘jetsetter’ plane (pop-art grunge), the ‘camo’ plane (‘no one saw us coming’), a ‘daylight savings’ plane (‘where each minute counts’), and a ‘this way up’ plane (‘a box that carries the most precious cargo of all — you’).

An example of a kulula flight attendant’s quirky pre-flight safety announcement was captured by a passenger:





