We were flying at above
30,000 feet for about half an hour when a flight attendant of the AirAsia
Davao-Manila flight started speaking over the public-address system. “Ladies and gentlemen, because we are
celebrating a momentous occasion, we have prepared a short program for you”.
The short program she talked about consisted of a dance performance by two
pretty FA’s who twirled to the tune of “señorita”
and a trivia contest that awarded six lucky winners with a round-trip domestic
ticket.
600
Million Passengers Flown
It was just like yesterday when AirAsia
came into the awareness of the traveling public. I can still remember that my
very first airplane ride back in 2008 was with AirAsia. It was this trip with
my brother to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that kickstarted my whole wanderlust. Who
would have thought that my then wide-eyed 20-something self would became the
travel writer I am now today?
Upon learning that we are aboard
a flight celebrating the 600-million passengers milestone of AirAsia, the
company’s slogan of “Now everyone can fly”
really rang true to myself. I was one
of the six hundred million travelers that AirAsia has given a chance to fly and
see the world at a very affordable airfare. Simply put, my journey as a traveler
started when my brother saw a promo from AirAsia and decided on
the spot to book us flight tickets more than ten years ago.
More
than Just Numbers: Positive Tourism and Employment Impact
“We’d like to thank each one of our 600 million guests for choosing
AirAsia. Your support is what motivates our 2,100 AirAsia Philippines employees
to come to work each day” AirAsia Philippines CEO Ricky Isla said.
“This milestone is not just about the numbers. It’s about celebrating
the positive tourism and employment impact on our country’s economy. We look
forward to further providing Filipinos with the best of service and
connectivity across the Philippines and Asean.” Isla adds.
After starting out operating
under the mother company AirAsia, AirAsia Philippines was established in 2010
and has since flown more than 30 million passengers to 30 destinations on 52
unique routes. In 2018, AirAsia Philippines introduced additional destinations:
Cagayan de Oro, Bangkok, Bali, Shenzhen and Kaohsiung. This year, AirAsia
Philippines expanded with more routes such as: Osaka, Bacolod, Chengdu,
Hangzhou and Kunming.
By the looks of AirAsia and
AirAsia Philippines’ rapid expansion, it will just be a matter of time before
this giant budget airline celebrate its 1 billion passenger milestone—and I
hope I would be on-board for another next in-flight celebration.
Photo credit: Main photo from Philippine Flight Network
