Tony Fernandes recognized for his contribution to the growth of Asean and U.S.-ASEAN relationship

Tony Fernandes of AirAsia

SAN FRANCISCO, 22 FEBRUARY 2016 – Tony Fernandes, co-founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia has been recognised by the US-ASEAN Business Council with the Fourth Pillar Award for his extraordinary contribution towards the growth of Asean and the U.S.-ASEAN relationship.

The award was presented by Mr. Keith Williams, President & CEO, UL LLC and Chairman, U.S.-ASEAN Business Council to Tony Fernandes, making him the second recipient after the Administration of U.S. President Barack Obama. The ASEAN Economic Community Conference 2016 dinner reception was held in San Francisco with key business leaders and government officials from across ASEAN and the U.S. in attendance.

The ASEAN charter speaks to a community comprising three pillars: political security, economic and socio-cultural. The Fourth Pillar Award is presented to a person or organization representing the “fourth pillar”, a person that has made an extraordinary contribution towards the growth of ASEAN as well as fostering better U.S.-ASEAN relationship, effectively making the foundation of ASEAN stronger through their focus and involvement.

Tony Fernandes, who is also a member of the ASEAN Business Club Advisory Council said, “The theme of this conference – Asia’s Best Kept Secret: The ASEAN Economic Community – says it all. ASEAN is a dream and if we put the ASEAN people first, who knows what we can achieve. When you combine all ten member countries into a single market and production base, you are tapping into a community of over 600 million people. The potential this region holds is immense, and as a truly ASEAN brand, we will continue to lobby and spearhead ASEAN integration, especially but not  limited to the aviation, travel and tourism industries.”

“I believe it is time for ASEAN to take a bold step towards commonality and standardisation. There is an urgent need of one ASEAN regulator to ensure a unified ASEAN standard. The current process of relying on consensus that require approval from all 10 countries should be reviewed so important initiatives move forward.”

“It is a true honour to be recognised by the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council for what we have done as an ASEAN brand, but there is much more to do. Our hope is for all ten member countries’ governments to come together as harmonisation allows for more efficient use of resources, achieve better economies of scale, contribute towards the reduction of unit costs and lead towards faster growth for the region,” added Fernandes.

The AirAsia Group, led by Tony Fernandes and partner Datuk Kamarudin Meranun has grown into an ASEAN powerhouse with operations connecting all ten ASEAN member countries in addition to providing one of the widest route network across Asia, Australasia and beyond via its long-haul operations.

The U.S.-ASEAN Business Council, founded in 1984, is the premier advocacy organization for U.S. corporations operating within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Council works to elevate the importance of U.S.-ASEAN economic relationship to American and ASEAN public policy makers and business leaders.

The Council works across all ten member countries of ASEAN, representing 152 major U.S. corporations.

About the AirAsia Group

AirAsia, the leading and largest low-cost carrier in Asia, services the most extensive network with over

100 destinations. Within 14 years of operations, AirAsia has carried over 300 million guests and grown its fleet from just two aircraft to over 170. The airline is proud to be a truly Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) airline with established operations based in Malaysia,  Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, India and Japan, servicing a network stretching across all Asean countries and beyond. AirAsia was named the World’s Best Low Cost Airline in the annual World Airline Survey by Skytrax for seven consecutive years from 2009 – 2015. AirAsia is the first airline globally  to collaborate with INTERPOL to implement the I-Checkit system to screen the passports of all its prospective passengers against information contained in the world police body’s Stolen and  Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database. /PR

Philippines AirAsia goes #GREEN24

Philippines AirAsia goes #GREEN24

AirAsia Group leads #Green24 climate change awareness movement

MANILA, 29 January 2016 – As part of AirAsia’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, the airline group today simultaneously conducted a 24-hour climate awareness movement to educate and promote climate action in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. 

To kick-off the #Green24  campaign, the AirAsia Group replaced their iconic red logo in their social media pages for 24 hours in January 29 into a vibrant green. The airline also released a special invitation video by Group CEO, Tony Fernandes inviting the public to be proactive in protecting the environment and the earth. 

In the video, which is available for viewing on AirAsia’s YouTube Channel and also posted in https://www.facebook.com/AirAsiaPhilippines/, Tony Fernandes said, “On our side of the world, not many people know about the issues that climate change poses, and we feel that the best thing for us to do is to inform people. Many of us don’t really see the problems coming, but at AirAsia we have seen the effects of climate change such as Typhoon Haiyan that struck Tacloban in the Philippines, the floods that happened around the region and massive climatic changes over the past two to three years.”

“We always look after our own mothers, and we always put our mothers first in many things. But now, it’s time we put Mother Earth first as well. It’s time we let the world know that we need to take better care of the planet we live in,” Tony Fernandes further emphasized.

Among the activities of #GREEN24  that will be carried out from 29th to 30th January 2016 throughout all the countries which the AirAsia Group serves are recycling drive, forest and beach clean-ups and climate change awareness engagements in Malaysia and Thailand, reusable bags were distributed for free in leading malls and in select AirAsia flights in Indonesia to discourage the use of plastics, information awareness about climate change are conducted in different venues in Myanmar and Cambodia while AirAsia offices in Singapore, China, Hongkong, Korea and Macau led the sorting of recyclable papers, segregating garbage and collecting old batteries and used clothes. 

AirAsia team in the Philippines collected over 1000 empty plastic bottles and planted them with air purifier plants and herbs that were placed around Philippines AirAsia’s office building in Pasay City to promote urban gardening. 

For more information about #Green24, please visit:
http://www.airasia.com/my/en/about-us/what-is-green24.page

/PR