June 2011, Kuala Lumpur – AirAsia was named the Asia Pacific Value Airline of the Year at the 2011 Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Aerospace and Defense awards ceremony held in Singapore 2nd June 2011.
The Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Aerospace & Defense Awards recognizes the outstanding performance by companies in the Airlines, Airports, Manufacturing, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO), Aviation training, Defense, General Aviation and Homeland Security segments of the Aerospace and Defense Industry. Frost & Sullivan uses in-depth interviews, market analysis, performance measurements and benchmarking of market participants to bring unique best practices to the fore front.
Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia was awarded the 2nd Asian Corporate Director Recognition Award by Corporate Governance Asia in Hong Kong on 20 June 2011. Tony was recognized for his contributions in enhancing business ethics, transparency and corporate social responsibility on the foundation of his success in running the airline business as well as helping to raise the standards of corporate governance practice in Malaysia.
AirAsia, being a people’s airline, aims to make air travel more accessible for the underserved. Low rates can be offered to customers with AirAsia’s emphasis on transparency and efficiency.
AirAsia has achieved many milestones last year which includes flying their 100 millionth guest over 8.5 years and breaching the billion- ringgit mark in net profit despite the rising fuel costs.
Earlier this year, Tony was also awarded the “Best CEO for Investor Relations – Mid Cap” at the inaugural Malaysia Investor Relations Awards Ceremony and in June Tony Fernandes was named as one of the 100 Most Creative People In Business for 2011 by New York-based magazine Fast Company. He was recognized as one of “The 10 Most Creative People on Twitter” by the magazine’s online edition, FastCompany.com. Ranked at No. 6 ahead of Arianna Huffington, the president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group (No. 9) and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey (No. 10). Leading the list is American Idol Host and radio personality, Ryan Seacrest while Conan O’Brien is ranked No. 3.
On 2nd June, 20 ASEAN youth volunteers who were part if the ASEAN Youth Caravan of Goodwill, headed over it Haneda on AirAsia flight D7 2652 with a Nobel quest to spread joy and support to the people of Japan.
AirAsia X and AirAsia sponsored the flights for this humanitarian effort which is endorsed by the 10 ASEAN Foreign Ministers and their Japanese counterpart at the ASEAN secretariat in April this year.
On 22 June 2011, AirAsia was awarded the world’s best low-cost airline for the third consecutive year at the Paris Air Show!
In the annual global survey conducted by respected London-based aviation consultants Skytrax, almost 19 million travelers polled worldwide chose AirAsia as the World’s Best Low Cost Airline for the third consecutive year. AirAsia came out tops in the independent survey that measures airlines’ product and service standards.
AirAsia Deputy Group CEO Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun accepted the award on behalf of the airline at the ceremony in Paris, France yesterday. The award ceremony was held as part of the Paris Air Show. AirAsia was also named Best Low Cost Airline Asia in the same ceremony.
Tan Sri Dr Tony Fernandes, AirAsia Group CEO, said, “We are very humbled by the support that our guests have given to us. AirAsia being voted the best in the world for a third consecutive year proves that our constant efforts to improve and innovate on our products and services are working. This award is very special to all of us at AirAsia as it is voted by travellers, and we are very proud to be the People’s Champion once again.”
“This award is attributed to all AirAsia staff – the Allstars, who are the pillar of AirAsia’s success. We are turning ten this year, and I am sure they would be delighted to know that the passion, dedication, hard work, creativity and commitment that they invest in AirAsia everyday has resulted in the best present we could receive for AirAsia’s tenth birthday – being the world’s best for the third consecutive year,” Fernandes added.
AirAsia remains a popular choice among air travelers with its consumer-friendly products and services, including low fares, a modern fleet, an extensive network and great flight frequencies, convenient booking and payment channels, and choose-your-own features for meals, seats and baggage allowances.
The airline is known for its innovations, popularizing technology-backed travel services such as web and mobile bookings; web, mobile and kiosk check-in services; no admin fees and the use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and its blog in communicating with guests in real-time throughout the globe.
AirAsia’s operations are anchored in its mission to democratise travel, encapsulated in its tagline Now everyone can fly. It has ferried more than 120 million guests to date. AirAsia has also established itself as the Truly Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) airline, with its unmatched connectivity in the region and its “sky bridges” – routes – that link the capitals and communities of Southeast Asia to each other and beyond.
Since its launch as a Low-Cost Carrier in late 2001, AirAsia has grown from 250 employees, two aircraft and one destination to an Asean-wide Group with more than 8,000 employees, 104 aircraft and more than 78 destinations. AirAsia has been operationally profitable from day one of its launch as a low-cost carrier. Together with its low-cost, long-haul affiliate AirAsia X, the airline now links three continents – Asia, Australia and Europe.
