World's Most-Entertaining Airlines

Jan. 12, 2011— -- Ever hear of Kulula Air? It's a low-cost South African airline with a wicked sense of humor.

Just go to its "About Us" section on Kulula.com and instead of a boring list of top executives, you are directed to "Who's who in the zoo," complete with an array of "mug shots."

Then there are those distinctive markings on one of Kulula's aircraft, dubbed Flying 101: The exterior includes helpful printed phrases complete with pointing arrows to indicate "windows," "wing #1" and "loo" while over the cockpit you'll see the words "the big cheese." Now that's entertainment. But it's not the only airline having some fun.

Here are some of my favorites: Airlines that take safety seriously but not much else.

For more travel news and insights view Rick's blog at farecompare.com

I'll call Spanair the Oprah Airline.

Case in point: At the end of the Spanish carrier's Christmas Eve flight from Barcelona to Las Palmas, the 190 passengers went to the baggage carousel only to find not their luggage but carefully wrapped presents with tags bearing all the fliers' names. The gifts were customized, too; teddy bears for toddlers, plus cameras, beauty products and apparel for adults. And yes, the passengers got their bags, too.

Cynics might see this as nothing more than a savvy marketing move, but I thought it was delightful. And savvy. People will remember Spanair maybe as the Santa Claus Carrier.

Another entertaining airline: Virgin America. Call it the Cartoon Carrier, and I refer to Virgin's amusing new animated safety demo. OK, the voice-over is pretty straightforward (except when the narrator intones "For the point-zero zero zero 1 percent of you who have never operated a seat belt before …"), but the drawings are a hoot, showing passengers who are hipsters, nuns, even matador and his bull. All that's missing is a character with a fish head -- wait, they've got that too.

The point, of course, is to get people watching -- and they do. I know I did.