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AirAsia was built on the wings of the dreams of our founders, Tan Sri (Dr) Tony Fernandes
and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun. They had a vision of creating a low-cost airline that
would enable everyone to fly. Sixteen years later, with successful operations not only in
Malaysia but also Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Japan and, soon, Vietnam
and China, their dream has certainly come true.
In the process, they have enabled some 450 million guests to meet new people and
experience new places that, in the past, they could only dream of visiting. With our
extensive network, anyone can now fly according to their whim or fancy to more than
130 destinations, from the clear waters of Palawan to the backwaters of Kochi, the
temples of Siem Reap to the casinos of Macao, the rolling fields of Luang Prabang to the
chocolate hills of Bohol… The list is almost endless.
And yet, the web of dreams we help to realise does not stop here. At AirAsia itself, the
‘dare to dream’ credo of our founders has been weaved into a culture that encourages
Allstars to aspire for more, and to pursue their dreams relentlessly, with the company
supporting them all the way. In this fashion, we have had office boys become pilots, a
call centre officer become head of sales and even a ground handling staff be promoted to
business development manager.
Within the communities that we support,
too, we encourage people to dream. We
believe Asean is home to great talent, and
would like to see more of these talent
achieve the acclaim they deserve. That
is why, in 2017, we ran an extensive Dare
to Dream campaign. Under its banner, we
produced a series of videos of the sheer
grit and determination of home-grown
athletes such as cyclists Azizulhasni
Awang (aka the Pocket Rocketman) and
Fatehah Mustapa, national diver Leong
Mun Yee, go-kart driver Muizzuddin
Musyaffa, as well as British Olympian
swimmer, Ben Proud, to achieve their
dreams. Each one of these amazing sports
personalities has won numerous local
and international competitions, bringing
themselves and their countries fame and
glory.
Working with Ben Proud, who grew up
in Malaysia and clocked in many hours
in the pool under a local coach before
leaving for Britain, we designed a swim
clinic for young swimmers with promise.
Many of the participants who attended
these sessions in Putrajaya, Penang and
Kota Kinabalu left with ambitions to win
Olympic golds!
We also entered into a partnership with
American mixed martial arts organisation
UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)
to unravel and nurture talent from Asia
Pacific. One fighter with potential will
get to spend two to three weeks training
under top UFC proponents at the UFC
Performance Institute in Las Vegas.
Another will be given the opportunity to
participate in the Dana White Tuesday
Night Contender series, a launch pad for
many amateur fighters.
Musicians have not been left out. In
November, we organised a Dreams Come
True with David Foster campaign to
discover the next Asean music sensation.
Working with music platform Spotify, we
identified 20 promising musical talents
from the region, and encouraged listeners
to ‘vote’ for their favourite by streaming
the artistes on Spotify during a nine-week
campaign. The performer with the most
streams got to perform with legendary
producer, musician, composer and AirAsia
ambassador David Foster in Surabaya and
Solo in March 2018, while he was on tour.
AirAsia would not have been born if our
founders had not dared to dream. Our
Allstars would not be where they are if
they had not either. We understand fully
the power of dreams and would like as
many people as possible to benefit from
the life-changing opportunities that await
them if they only dare to dream. This was
our message to all our fans and friends in
2017. If, through our campaigns, we have
succeeded in changing even one life for
the better, we will have achieved our goal.
But, of course, we won’t stop here. We at
AirAsia will continue to dream. And we will
continue to get the people we serve to
dream along with us.
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AirAsia Group Berhad
BUSINESS REVIEW
139