Alongside the Asean Chairmanship logo, the special livery features the best of Asean tourism icons, helping to advance and support AirAsia’s sustainability partnership with Asean nations and its mission to create a globally recognised Asean brand.
The launch event was attended by Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Vijavat Isarabhakdi, and Director General of the Department of ASEAN Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thailand Dr. Suriya Chindawonogse, along with AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes.
AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said, “As a truly Asean airline, we’re thrilled to showcase what makes our home special on one of our aircraft, and to reiterate our ongoing commitment to sustainability. It’s a beautiful, courageous artwork and we hope it catches people’s eye and sparks a conversation about the benefits and impact sustainable travel has on 650 million people who call Asean home.”
AirAsia has long championed Asean integration through continued support of the ASEAN Open Skies Policy. The policy aims to increase regional and domestic connectivity, and enhance Asean trade opportunities through the liberalisation of air travel under the single, unified air transport market.
Fernandes added: “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Thailand on its successful chairmanship of ASEAN in 2019, and we hope to continue our work to build better cooperation and integration for initiatives such as sustainable tourism.”
AirAsia’s sustainability efforts include guest education, carbon reduction and waste management, the collection and separation of recyclable items on board and community-based tourism programmes such as JourneyD, as well as fostering social enterprise initiatives across Asean through
AirAsia’s philanthropic arm AirAsia Foundation.
The Airbus A320 aircraft with registration number 9M-AJW will be based in Malaysia, where it will fly to more than 50 destinations in all 10 ASEAN member nations from Kuala Lumpur. AirAsia will also launch the livery on an Airbus A320 based in Bangkok later this year.