airasia sets up vaccination centre at RedQ to accelerate vaccination among aviation workforce
Hails aggressive vaccination roll out across Malaysia and Asean as key to resumption of air travel
Long awaited boost to tourism and the economy on the horizon
SEPANG, 30 July 2021 - airasia is all set to wake up its aircraft and start up the engines to return to the skies in the near future and in preparation towards that, has established a vaccination centre at its headquarters, RedQ in Malaysia from 30 July to 1 August 2021.
In its effort to help accelerate the vaccination uptake among the aviation workforce, airasia is making arrangements for about 2,500 of its Allstars to participate in the vaccination drive.
With vaccination, Allstars and their colleagues in aviation will be able to protect their well-being and safety during this period, whilst preparing for the resumption of air travel in the near future.
The vaccine will be administered by health professionals from DOC2US, one of the Healthcare Organisers (HCO) appointed by ProtectHealth Corporation Sdn. Bhd. The programme is supported by the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee (JKJAV), co-chaired by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) as well as the Ministry of Transport (MOT).
Photo Caption: airasia Group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes with the DOC2US team at AirAsia RedQ Vaccination Centre today.
airasia Group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said: “The vaccination momentum is accelerating in all of our key markets. Malaysia is amongst the top Asean countries and on track to have around 80% of the population vaccinated by the end of 2021 with Thailand vaccinating around 60% of its population and around 50% in the Philippines and Indonesia by the year-end.
“It is critical to ensure that everyone works together to increase vaccination capacity nationwide and help eliminate the virus. With aggressive vaccination rolls out in Asean and around the world, countries which are well progressed such as the US and EU countries are starting to reopen their economies and are beginning to reopen tourism.”
Encouraging signs are on the horizon. Thailand has reopened leisure travel for vaccinated tourists under the Phuket Sandbox and Samui Plus programme this month and AirAsia Philippines’ operation is looking at a similar gradual resumption of services aiming to fly up to 16% of pre-Covid capacity from the end of next month. Currently, the majority of Allstars around the region either have already been vaccinated or registered to get their shots as soon as possible and all AirAsia’s operating crew will be vaccinated by the time operations resume.
“Realistically, we don’t need the full population vaccinated to start flying with many experts holding the view of a 50% vaccination base for the people to start flying again. With daily vaccinations now exceeding 550,000 and growing in Malaysia, we should reach the desired target real soon. From what we are seeing internationally, if we can speed up and get to 20-30%, we will start to see cases coming down and the curve dramatically turning,” said Tony.
With the tourism industry contributing over 15% of GDP in Malaysia alone, vaccines are key for protection and will play a strong role in supporting tourism and the economy to get back on its feet - at the same time, helping to ease domestic travel restrictions and reopen international borders securely as fast as possible.
There is a clear correlation between vaccines and recovery as evidenced in the US, Canada, and many other European countries that have achieved high inoculation rates amongst their respective populations. In the US, for example, the economy is going to fully reopen soon and air passenger traffic has also improved in tandem with the gradual reopening of borders and vaccine roll out.
“I'm confident we will have enough of the population vaccinated and an international health passport solution, be it paper in the short term or digital in the longer term. One thing I am sure about, is there will be a strong regional comeback in Asean, hopefully by the end of 2021 and an international reboot by early 2022.
Tony remains optimistic about the future of airasia which is now a digital lifestyle company anchored on travel. airasia is not just an airline anymore and is starting to see some key competitors take notice and follow its lead. This is a testament to what the company has achieved in the past 18 months.
Not only have airasia rapidly put in place the right foundations for a viable and successful future for its airline, airasia’s transformation to become the Asean Super App of choice is gaining huge momentum and is already delivering solid results across all digital platforms, setting it apart from competitors to be more robust and resilient in the post Covid-19 world.
“The long wait is coming to an end. We will recover so much stronger. While we transform into a digital and aviation company one thing that won’t change, is our commitment to the people. The vaccination drive is not only for our aviation workforce, but also for our delivery riders who are also our Allstars. We look forward to once again delivering volume for tourism in our key markets and creating jobs again as we return to the skies,” added Tony.