KUALA LUMPUR, 27 November 2019 - AirAsia was awarded Best Sustainability in the Community at the Sustainable Business Awards (SBA) Malaysia 2019.

The SBA awards businesses and companies for their sustainability efforts across 12 categories in line with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

AirAsia is being recognised based on the company’s commitment towards community development that stretches beyond the local reach of Malaysia - broadening towards Thailand and Indonesia. This is among the efforts in meeting the expectations of the wide range of stakeholders in an environmentally, socially and economically responsible manner.

AirAsia Group Head of Global Affairs, Government Relations and Sustainability Shasha Ridzam accepted the awards on behalf of AirAsia from Minister of Entrepreneur Development YB Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan at a gala ceremony here last night.

Shasha Ridzam said, “As the biggest airline in Asean, and one of the biggest in Asia, we recognise we have an immense responsibility to our numerous stakeholders in ensuring we operate safely, responsibly and with integrity. This has formed the basis of our sustainability efforts over the years and will continue to drive our future performance.”

AirAsia’s sustainability efforts include guest education, carbon reduction and waste management, the collection and separation of recyclable items on board and community-based tourism programmes such as JourneyD, as well as fostering social enterprise initiatives across Asean through AirAsia’s philanthropic arm AirAsia Foundation, that has created jobs for the underprivileged in ASEAN nations and has benefitted over 8,000 families.

The SBA is the only platform in the region that undertakes a rigorous assessment on practices with a methodology that scores both process and performance across the strategy and sustainability management; workforce; community; energy management; water management; waste management and material productivity, among others. 

Having been held in Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore over the past seven years, the SBA is intended to become a regional platform to share good sustainability practices across companies in South East Asia and demonstrate how sustainable business benefits companies, the environment and all stakeholders.

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About the Sustainable Business Awards

Organised by Global Initiatives for the second time in Malaysia, and organised in Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines since 2012, The Sustainable Business Awards (SBA) is a unique and important resource for businesses. SBA aims to increase awareness of sustainable business best-practices and demonstrate how sustainable business benefits companies, the environment and all stakeholders, today and for the future. Conducted in partnership with PwC , the SBA methodology combines the best features of bench-marking and awards processes globally to deliver green strategy and business advantage. The unique platform rewards companies along the way to become truly sustainable businesses in Asia.