Kulula is gone: who flies those routes now
Comair, the company behind kulula.com, was liquidated in June 2022. The last green aircraft flew on 31 May 2022. If you have landed here trying to make a Kulula booking, nothing on the internet will let you — but every route it flew still exists.
Written and checked by Kyle Govender, founder and editor · Johannesburg · last verified 17 September 2026
What happened, briefly
Kulula launched in 2001 and ran for twenty-one years. It was operated by Comair, which also held the British Airways domestic franchise in South Africa — so when Comair's funding collapsed in May 2022, two airlines stopped at once. Provisional liquidation followed in June.
It happened fast. Passengers with tickets for June 2022 found out days before travelling. That abruptness is why people are still searching for Kulula four years later: for a lot of South Africans it was simply the default way to fly, and defaults take a long time to unlearn.
The Lanseria question
Kulula's real signature was not the green livery or the jokes painted on the fuselage. It was Lanseria. For anyone living north or west of Johannesburg, flying from Lanseria instead of OR Tambo saved forty minutes of traffic in each direction, and Kulula built a genuine base there.
That has survived. FlySafair now flies Lanseria to Cape Town and Lanseria to Durban, and LIFT operates on the Lanseria–Cape Town corridor. If Lanseria was the reason you flew Kulula, you have not lost it. Our OR Tambo vs Lanseria comparison works through which one actually saves you money once parking and transfer time are counted.
Who took which route
| Old Kulula route | Who flies it now | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Johannesburg (JNB) → Cape Town | FlySafair, LIFT, SAA, CemAir | Kulula's flagship. Now the most contested route in the country. |
| Lanseria (HLA) → Cape Town | FlySafair, LIFT | The signature route survived the airline. |
| Johannesburg → Durban | FlySafair, LIFT, SAA | Often the cheapest fare in South Africa on any given week. |
| Lanseria → Durban | FlySafair | Quieter alternative to OR Tambo if you are northside. |
| Johannesburg → George | FlySafair, Airlink, CemAir | Garden Route gateway, busy in December. |
| Johannesburg → Gqeberha | FlySafair, Airlink | Formerly Port Elizabeth, airport code still PLZ. |
Compare Lanseria to Cape Town fares
Did fares get worse without Kulula?
This is the question people really mean when they search for it, and the honest answer is: less than you would expect, because of who moved into the gap.
FlySafair scaled up hard after 2022 and now carries the largest share of domestic seats, operating from both OR Tambo and Lanseria. LIFT established itself on the Johannesburg–Cape Town corridor. Airlink and CemAir absorbed the regional flying. The result is that the low-cost pressure Kulula applied is still being applied — on the trunk routes there is arguably more competition now than there was in 2021.
Where you do feel the loss is on thin routes and at the margins: fewer carriers willing to run a marginal regional service, and less slack in the system when weather or maintenance takes aircraft out.
If you are holding an old Kulula booking
Comair went into liquidation rather than a successful business rescue, so there is no ticket-holder portal of the kind Mango eventually ran. Claims against a liquidated company go through the liquidation process, and at this distance — four years on — the practical position for most individual ticket holders is that the money is gone.
If you paid by credit card and never claimed, it is worth one call to your card issuer, though chargeback windows are long past for almost everyone. We would rather tell you that than have you spend a week chasing it.
Questions people actually ask
Can I still book a Kulula flight?
No. kulula.com stopped selling and flying on 31 May 2022 when its operator, Comair, ran out of funding. Comair went into provisional liquidation in June 2022 and the brand has not operated since.
Why did Kulula stop flying?
Its operator Comair could not secure the funding it needed coming out of business rescue. Because Comair also held the British Airways domestic franchise in South Africa, both airlines stopped at the same time.
Who flies from Lanseria now that Kulula is gone?
FlySafair operates Lanseria to Cape Town and Lanseria to Durban, and LIFT flies the Lanseria to Cape Town corridor. The Lanseria convenience that made Kulula popular with northern Johannesburg travellers still exists.
Are flights more expensive without Kulula?
On the main trunk routes, not really. FlySafair expanded significantly and LIFT entered the Johannesburg to Cape Town market, so competitive pressure remains. The loss is felt more on thinner regional routes and in schedule resilience than in headline fares.
Can I get a refund on an old Kulula ticket?
Comair was liquidated rather than rescued, so there is no dedicated ticket-holder refund portal. Claims sit within the liquidation process and, four years on, most individual ticket holders will not recover anything. If you paid by credit card and never claimed, it is worth one call to your issuer, though chargeback windows have long since closed for nearly everyone.