Milestone on air

AirAsia Philippines was established in 2010 and has since flown more than 30 million passengers to 30 destinations on 52 unique routes.

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,” she said.

A few seconds later, two lovely flight attendants started twirling to the tune of “Señorita,” to the delight of the passengers. A trivia contest was held where six lucky winners won roundtrip domestic tickets.

Following the short in-flight merriment, we were informed that we were flying on a flight symbolizing the 600 millionth passenger milestone of AirAsia.

It seemed like yesterday when AirAsia came into the awareness of the traveling public. I can still remember 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 twentysomething self would become the travel writer I am now today? Simply put, my journey as a traveler started — when my brother chanced upon a seat sale from AirAsia — more than 10 years ago.

One of the six lucky winners who won roundtrip domestic tickets during the milestone flight of AirAsia.

“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 added.

After starting out 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 celebrates its one billion passenger milestone — and I hope I would be onboard for the next in-flight celebration.