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Kulula founder Gidon Novick will launch a new airline later in 2020 and has invited South Africans to name the new airline.
The airline, which has been inspired by Uber, is a partnership between Novick and Global Aviation, a leading operator of Airbus A320 aircraft. The airline’s first flight between Johannesburg and Cape Town, the world’s twelfth busiest route, is scheduled for December 2020.
“The pandemic has created a unique opportunity to start an airline that is not only dramatically more efficient, but also inventive and creative by leveraging the unique talent our country offers,” Novick said.
He added that the founding team combines industry experience with new thinkers from the technology and hospitality sectors.
“Similar to the way Uber has transformed end-to-end mobility, there is a great opportunity for the airline industry to rethink its relationship with passengers and become ‘more obsessed with the customer.’
“This can be achieved by bringing together experts from industry, technology and a fresh perspective and strategic approaches from other sectors.” says Jonathan Ayache, a former Uber Africa executive who is also involved in the project.
Like Uber
Novick said MyBroadband who is optimistic about the opportunity the pandemic provides to reexamine traditional business models and discover how things can be done differently.
He said the pandemic has created the possibility of affordably acquiring the key inputs to start an airline: planes, facilities and trained employees. A key focus for Novick is efficiency and cost reduction, which includes leasing aircraft at dramatically reduced rates.
He added that there are high-quality maintenance facilities available that are much cheaper than a few months ago. Through experience, he found that airlines become less efficient the larger they get, so starting small gives a new airline a huge advantage.
Another Novick approach is flexibility. “With the market uncertainty, a flexible model that can adjust to market demand is essential,” he said.
He said that MyBroadband technology will play a very important role in increasing efficiency. “Technology has the ability to facilitate a fluid, efficient and attractive relationship with our future customers,” said Novick.
The new airline will be financed entirely with private equity without debt. He said his business experience showed him the incredible damage debt can do to a business, especially in a volatile industry like air travel.
“Staying out of debt is absolutely key to the success of launching a new low-cost airline,” he said. To keep costs low, they will launch with used planes that are bought outright or rented.
These are mainly narrow-body, single-aisle aircraft with around 180 seats, such as the Boeing 737 or the Airbus A320. He explained that local airfares are much lower than in many developed countries that require a local airline to adjust their business model. This includes the use of older aircraft.
Naming the new airline
Novick has invited all South Africans to “put their creativity to the test” and suggest a name for the new airline.
Without being too prescriptive, the new team is looking for a name that is unique, aspirational, and cool. Ideally, it should be easy to say and memorable.
Entries can be published on the website brandnewairline.co.za and the winner will be announced in the next two weeks. Novick said whoever names the airline will win the free one-year travel pass.
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