ASEAN Business Award for Tourism Goes to AirAsia

8th Sep 2017

For its “outstanding performance in the ASEAN priority integration sector of tourism” Malaysian-registered low budget airline AirAsia Bhd has received the "ASEAN business Award for Priority Integration Sector – Tourism".

On behalf of the biggest Asian budget carrier, AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes accepted the award at the ASEAN Business Awards (ABA) 2017 gala, which was held at the Solaire Resort and Casino in Manila, Philippines last Wednesday (6th September). The award was presented by the president of Philippines Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

Fernandes said in a statement today:

It’s not just about having a community on paper. It’s about experiencing first-hand how others live, it’s about creating new jobs in travel and tourism, it’s about forming new supply chains by connecting places that have never been connected. Air travel does this and more – AirAsia carried 13.4 million people within Asean last year – and we are proud to do our part to bring the region closer together.

Present at the ceremony last night were also Joey Concepcion, ASEAN Business Advisory Council (BAC) and Ramon Lopez, Philippines Trade and Industry Secretary.

The ABA was established in 2007 as a means of acknowledging outstanding attributions to ASEAN enterprises and to be an information platform for the ASEAN Economic Community.

Apart for the tourism sector, Priority Integration Sector awards were received by companies in 11 more sectors, including electronics, logistics, healthcare, retail, automotive, fisheries, wood-based, agro-foods, rubber, textiles and e-ASEAN and ICT. In addition to the 12 Priority Integration Sector awards, there were also awards for young entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, SME excellence, inclusive business and two special awards for Friend of ASEAN and Legacy award.

AirAsia Launches New Frequent Flyer-Targeted Loyalty Program

At the same time, the Malaysian airline has announced a new loyalty program targeted towards frequent flyers. The new program is dubbed “AirAsia BIG Loyalty” and the new point system will give priority to how many flights you have taken, rather than what distance you covered or how much you paid for the fares.

The new programme was launched by AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes, AirAsia CEO Kamaruddin Meranun and AirAsia BIG CEO Eddy Leong.

The programme includes four different “statuses, Red for those who travel up to 13 flights with the airline per year, Gold, Platinum and Black for those who make more than 50 flights in a year.

Membership for this programme is free and will last a lifetime, plus you can also qualify for great ticket price discounts.