SEPANG, 16 JANUARY 2017

AirAsia is proud to announce its first ever open innovation hackathon, AIRVOLUTION 2017: Spearheading Innovation in Asean.

Twenty teams will go head-to-head to create new applications and tools to address a travel-related challenge to be revealed later.

AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said, "Innovation is the lifeblood of AirAsia. We live and die by ideas, and this hackathon will provide the perfect environment for the best and brightest to explore new ideas.

"This year marks the emergence of AirAsia as a digital airline, and I believe this event can spur the kind of radical, creative thinking that will ensure AirAsia remains on the leading edge."

AIRVOLUTION 2017 will be hosted at our newly opened RedQ headquarters in Sepang, Malaysia on 18-19 March 2017.

The event, sponsored by Microsoft, AirAsia Santan, AirAsia BIG Loyalty Programme, among others, is open to participants of any nationality currently residing in any of the 26 markets covered by AirAsia's extensive network.

These comprise Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Iran, Oman, Mauritius, Australia and New Zealand.

Registration for the event starts from now until 19 February 2017.

Successful teams will be informed by 3 March 2017, and we will even sponsor return flights for teams residing outside of Malaysia!

Solutions submitted during the hackathon will be reviewed by our panel of technology and aviation experts, who will select the best one based on originality, scalability and execution.

Winners will receive a cash prize, AirAsia BIG Points and free return flights to the AirAsia destination of their choice.

To find out more, please visit airasia.com/airvolution.