BEIJING, 9 January 2017 - AirAsia has been named The Most Influential Airline in China at the 2016 New Power of Travel Awards held in Continental Hotel Beijing here on Friday.

The awards, hosted by Sina Travel and Youku Travel websites, review the development and trends of the travel industry in China, and evaluate travel-related companies and products based on the content and readership by the more than 800 million users on both websites.

The awards honour outstanding companies and products as voted by users, and provide travel guides towards airlines, hotels and destinations for travellers.

Sina is the world's largest Chinese-language web portal, while Youku is one of China's top video and online streaming platforms.

The awards committee noted that AirAsia had influenced free and independent travellers (FITs) in “AirAsia has also created lots of unique content and activities on social media, so now the concept of 'Now Everyone Can Fly' has become more influential in China."

AirAsia President of North Asia Kathleen Tan said, "We would like dedicate this award to our 1.3 million Sina Weibo followers and 300 million guests. We have built our Chinese social media channels as a one-stop shop for anyone who loves to travel and wishes to interact with AirAsia. This award would not be possible without their strong interaction, feedback and support, and the fact that it signifies the approval of Chinese netizens makes it so much more important to us.

"China is very important to AirAsia. It is an incredibly dynamic market and we have focused our efforts on pushing out the very best content on Chinese social media in order to deliver an even better travel experience to our fans in China. This includes information on where to find the best food, hidden gems and great travel destinations where amazing memories can be made.

"In line with this, our team is working hard with travel tourism partners and local governments to bring the world to China and vice versa. We believe we have the power to open up new markets, not just as an airline but as a travel partner who inspires wanderlust, discovery and a new lifestyle."

Keep updated with AirAsia’s latest promotions and activities via Twitter (twitter.com/AirAsia) and Facebook (facebook.com/AirAsia).