It’s a good year to be an Olympic medalist from Southeast Asia, as regional low-cost carrier AirAsia has announced that it will provide “free flights for life” to all local athletes who won a gold medal during the 2016 Olympics in Rio, reports Channel News Asia.
In a media statement released this week, the airline said that all athletes who won a medal during the Olympics will be rewarded with free flights. Specifically, gold medal-winning ASEAN Olympians can enjoy AirAsia flights for free from now on, while those who won silver and bronze medals will be given free tickets for five and two years, respectively.
"Eligible athletes will be able to fly to any of the more than 120 destinations within AirAsia and AirAsia X's extensive network in Asia, Australia, the Middle East and Africa," the statement reads, as quoted by the news source.
"What an Olympics this was for [ASEAN]. AirAsia, which has its roots in [ASEAN], wants to reward those who gave us so much joy," said AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes on his Facebook page on Wednesday. "Also, they taught and reminded us never to give up on your dreams and never stop believing you can be the best in the world.”
According to Tuoi Tre, under this new scheme, six ASEAN medalists are eligible for the lifetime free flights, including Vietnamese shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh, Singaporean swimmer Joseph Schooling, Thai weightlifters Sukanya Srisurat and Sopita Tanasan and Indonesian badminton duo Liliyana Natsir and Tontowi Ahmad.
