AirAsia joins WFA

AirAsia is to join the WFA, making it the first Malaysian headquartered company to become a member of the global organization.

The company becomes the 80th major multinational %u2013 and the fifth company from APAC %u2013 to join the WFA alongside blue chip marketing names such as Unilever, Procter & Gamble and Mars. Other APAC members are Mundipharma, Nissan, Tata and Telstra.

AirAsia is the leading and largest low-cost carrier in Asia, servicing the most extensive network with over 100 destinations across Asia, Australia and the Middle East. Since the inception of AirAsia in 2001 and AirAsia X in 2007, the group has carried over 300 million guests.

AirAsia has grown its fleet from just two aircraft to over 173 Airbus A320s with established operations based in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines & India. Meanwhile, AirAsia X operates a core fleet of 26 Airbus A330-300s. AirAsia X expanded its regional expansion with Thai AirAsia X operating from Don Mueang International Airport, Thailand and Indonesia AirAsia X operating from Bali, Indonesia. Skytrax named AirAsia as the "World's Best Low Cost Airline" for seven consecutive years from 2009 %u2013 2015.

The company will now benefit from access to WFA's unique network through member-only events, 48-hour benchmarking services, global peer research and on-demand webinars. This ability to share in confidence and learning from the world's biggest marketers is a key membership benefit.

AirAsia's WFA membership comes at a time when Malaysia is poised to host the WFA's flagship Global Marketer Week in 2016 in association with the Malaysian Advertisers Association (MAA), the first time the event has been held in South-East Asia.

"We are delighted to welcome AirAsia into the WFA family. Its success reflects the rapid growth that has been seen right across Asia but particularly in South-East Asia. I'm sure its executive team will have lots to contribute to our peer-to-peer learning sessions having come so far and grown so fast since 2001," said Stephan Loerke, managing director at the World Federation of Advertisers.

"We are pleased to be the first Malaysian company to join the WFA and we look forward to participate in the upcoming programs." said Mr Spencer Lee, Head of Commercial at AirAsia.