Hamburgers, buses, breasts: the 8 weirdest airlines Federal Council puts together a million-dollar package for demining in Ukraine

Hundreds of airline passengers have been stranded for days in the South Sea paradise of Vanuatu because the national airline’s only long-haul plane has stopped functioning.

It is not the first time this year that the Boeing 737-800 has been grounded: at the end of March, the aircraft had a technical problem in Brisbane, Australia. It then took weeks before the necessary spare part could be installed and the aircraft took off again.

But there are even more exceptional airlines. We are a little too deeply immersed.

McPlane

What are the children’s birthdays at McDonald’s if you can fly on holiday with Big Mac catering? That’s probably what Hotelplan and Crossair thought when they entered into a partnership with McDonald’s in the 1990s.

Crossair’s bright red MD-83 was appropriately named McPlane and flew from Zurich to various holiday destinations in Europe. There was just this one McDonald’s looking plane. The interior of the aircraft was also decorated in the bright red that was common at the time in combination with the well-known golden M.

Of course, the typical food couldn’t be missed either: the staff wore McDonald’s hats and served Big Macs, McNuggets… but apparently no fries.

The McPlane took off for the first time in 1996 and disappeared again after a few years.

Honk air

What McDonald’s can do will work for Hooters – that’s the idea. Hooters Air was the homegrown airline that offered domestic flights in the US from 2003 to 2006. This was an offer from restaurant chain Hooters, known for its burgers and chicken wings served by the so-called Hooters Girls, scantily clad women.

In addition to flight attendants, two Hooters girls were present on Hooters Air flights to entertain passengers. The planes offered relatively much legroom and were equipped with leather seats.

Naturist airline – Ossi holidays

No, not an Asi holiday, Ossi holiday! Holiday for East Germans. That was the name of the tour operator from Erfurt who wanted to offer a nudist flight from Erfurt to the Baltic Sea in 2015. The provider says that travelers can enjoy the flight completely naked, but are only allowed to undress on the plane. The staff is not allowed to expose themselves “for safety reasons”.

There is no image here. For reasons.

Despite high demand, the naturist flight was cancelled. The company suddenly had ‘moral concerns’ after the big announcement.

Looking back, it was just a PR stunt that the tour operator’s website publicized.

EVA Air – Hello Kitty

Taiwanese airline EVA Air is a private airline and the second largest in Taiwan, after state-owned China Airlines. Between 2005 and 2008, it offered flights in collaboration with the Japanese company Sanrio, entirely in the Hello Kitty design.

There were initially two planes that had a Hello Kitty look inside and out. In addition to Japanese destinations, Hong Kong was also served. It then looked like this:

Hello Kitty flights made a comeback on EVA Air in 2011, and they still exist today. There are five different Hello Kitty planes, all with different names and designs.

Animal Access Only – Pet Airways

We stick to animals: at Pet Airways, pets did not fly in the cargo hold, but in the main cabin. And without their owners, because they stayed at home.

The airline offered a refreshing change, especially for the staff.

It wasn’t just the update in the main cabin that made the American airline so special, but also all the other business class-like benefits that all “Pawsangers” enjoyed. The trained staff took all pets for a short walk with toilet breaks before departure. The animals were cared for by the staff throughout the flight. The pet owners could follow the flight online.

When the first plane took off in 2009, a plane ticket cost $150 per pet. Later the price varied between $500 and $1,200 per ticket, depending on the size of the animal. The airline transported the animals within the United States until 2009, when the company ceased operations in 2011.

Baltia Airlines

It was founded in New York in 1989 to provide flights between New York and the former Soviet Union. She also received permission from the American authorities to fly to Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) and Riga.

But that is still the case in its 34-year history not a single commercial flight carried out. It is now called USGlobal Airways, but never made any sales. All the money so far has come from investors. At the moment they do not have an aircraft with which they could offer flights at all.

Despite moving to Michigan, where it is easier to obtain the necessary FAA approval, she failed all approval tests seven times.

Samoan air

Samoa Air was a private airline from Samoa that offered domestic flights and flights to American Samoa from 2012 to 2015.

On June 21, 2012, a near collision occurred with a Polynesian Airlines aircraft, the national airline of Samoa, now called Samoa Airways. Samoa Air was heavily criticized after an investigation for not following standard operating procedures.

The airline made international headlines when… Ticket prices based on weight introduced. To calculate the ticket price, the weight of the passengers was added to that of their luggage. For a flight from Apia to Asau, an 80kg person with 20kg of luggage paid $132, while a 60kg person without luggage paid just $79.20.

The airline only had two four-seat aircraft in operation, so weight certainly made a difference. Samoa also has a very high percentage of overweight and obese people in the population. In 2016, a whopping 47.3 percent of Samoans were considered obese.

Fun above the clouds – Kulula Airline

«Welcome to Cape Town. You can now leave the plane, except for the handsome man in the 27th row, who is welcome to stay.” After the passengers turn curiously to keep an eye on Adonis, a laugh breaks out. Because: Row 27 does not exist .

Such actions made Kulula Airline the funniest ever.

Kulula was founded in 2001 as the first South African ‘no-frills’ airline. No Frills roughly means no frills. In other words, by eliminating certain services, the airline was able to keep its costs low and offer cheaper airfares. For example, there was no seating – and no food either.

The airline did not skimp on the entertaining announcements, with which the South African low-cost airline gained international fame. Passengers shared their funny experiences with the airline online. They reported the following:

The airline’s lime green aircraft paint job wasn’t meant entirely seriously.

But not everyone liked the airline’s humor. At the start of the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa, the airline attacked FIFA – and specifically Sepp Blatter – with an advertising campaign. The airline did not want to get into trouble with FIFA, but wanted to draw attention to the price increases during the World Cup.

But here’s the problem: the airline advertised itself as “the unofficial national airline of ‘you-know-what’”. FIFA considered the campaign a violation of its trademark rights and asked the airline to withdraw the advertising campaign.

The low-cost airline responded with gallows humor. In one day, the airline invited everyone to fly Kulula for free, including Sepp Blatter. However, the first guest to take advantage of the offer was not the former Swiss football official, but a dog. His owner jokingly called him… Sepp Blatter.

Kulula withdrew the original campaign – and later retaliated with a revised version. Okay, this wasn’t the Sepp Blatter we expected, but the real SeppBlatter could take advantage of the free offer at any time. Because: ‘Any form of Sepp Blatter’ is welcome at the airline.

The airline has suspended operations in 2022 due to financial constraints due to the pandemic.