Friday 29 Mar 2024
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MANILA (Nov 14): In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the formation of Asean, AirAsia Bhd gathered main Asean medias at Manila today to unveil the group's new aircraft livery with the 10-country economic bloc's culture as the main design theme.

In a statement released prior to the launching event today, AirAsia group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said the low cost airline strives to continue the promotion of Asean destinations through its branding and marketing efforts.

The aircraft livery, dubbed "I Love Asean", showcased designs inspired by textiles, architecture, art and nature from all 10 Asean nations, namely batik cetak from Malaysia, poom khao bin from Thailand, ulos Batak from Indonesia, tapis from the Philippines, trong dong from Vietnam, kbach pka Chan from Cambodia, Lao phouthai from Laos, chate from Myanmar, jongsarat Brunei from Brunei, and Vanda Miss Joaquim from Singapore.

"We owe our success to Asean. As a truly Asean airline, we want to bring the people across the region closer together in line with the amazing work Asean has done over the past 50 years. AirAsia Loves Asean is just the first of many initiatives we have planned to give back to the region that, together with our continued promotion of Asean destinations through our branding and marketing efforts, will be able to help bridge communities and economies as Asean moves towards even greater integration and mutual understanding," Fernandes said.

Fernandes is to providing (a) media (conference) later today whereby matters on the group's corporate development progresses, such as the public listing its Philippines and Indonesia businesses, and potential new venture into Sri Lanka, would be brought up by the medias.

Yesterday, the Sri Lanka Sunday Times reported that AirAsia made a strong pitch to set up a budget airline in Sri Lanka to further grow the company's operations.

The newspaper, quoting a Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) meeting attendee, further reported that an AirAsia team made the hour-long presentation to the CCEM, which was headed by Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, on Wednesday last week.

It was also reported that the AirAsia team at the meeting included AirAsia's group head of network and regulatory affairs Dilhan Haradasa.

Meanwhile at Manila today, AirAsia will also be launching a series of initiatives, called AirAsia Loves Asean, that focused on education, talent development and the economy to celebrate the 50 years of Asean.

The initiatives comprise the AirAsia Asean University Partnership, Asean Entrepreneurs Day, Asean Journalists Camp and Allstars Exchange Programme.

Through the university partnership, AirAsia will give tertiary education students from across the region the opportunity to intern in various capacities with the airline, with a chance to serve full-time employment upon graduation.

Asean Entrepreneurs Day will reinforce AirAsia’s commitment to Asean entrepreneurs by providing them with a forum to learn from the best startups in the region and a platform to develop and market their businesses, starting with Indonesian actor, host and VJ Daniel Mananta’s “Damn! I Love Indonesia" brand.

To encourage better reporting on Asean, AirAsia will host the Asean Journalists Camp, a workshop for journalists that will build a greater understanding of Asean’s brand of regionalism, how the organisation works, social, development and integration issues as well as sustainable, community-based tourism.

Lastly, AirAsia Allstars will get the chance to experience working and living in other Asean countries through the Allstars Exchange Programme, which aims to foster cultural exchange at a working and personal level.

At 9.43am today, AirAsia rose 0.62% or 2 sen to RM3.24 with 174,200 shares done.

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