AirAsia and TRAFFIC join forces to combat illegal wildlife trafficking

Photo Caption: Renee Yee of TRAFFIC educating Allstars on Illegal Wildlife Trafficking in the Aviation Sector

What’s more meaningful than driving awareness around illegal wildlife trade and work towards a sustainable future for wildlife in conjunction with World Wildlife Day celebration? 

Committed to playing its part in stopping this illegal trade, AirAsia is partnering with TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network, to raise awareness on illegal wildlife trafficking in the aviation sector with an awareness talk catered for Allstars (AirAsia staff) held at RedQ, HQ of AirAsia recently. 

During the talk, Allstars were introduced to ways wildlife traffickers smuggle illegal wildlife through the aviation sector, and how Allstars can be the additional intelligence to combat and reduce these activities. A mini-exhibition was on display to educate about objects that are frequently smuggled, devices used to smuggle and hide them, as well as demonstrations on how it is done.

AirAsia will also be partnering with TRAFFIC to give specific role-based training to selected Allstars who may come in close contact with illegal wildlife trade in their line of work. This will include cargo and ground handlers, cabin crew, and guest services. 

AirAsia Group Head of Government Relations, Global Affairs & Sustainability, Shasha Ridzam said: “At AirAsia, sustainability is one of our key values. We recognise the company’s scope of influence and are committed to ensuring that our actions and decisions create positive outcomes for a better world. As a responsible brand, AirAsia is playing a crucial part in raising awareness on the key issues and challenges surrounding illegal wildlife trade. We remain dedicated to this and will continue to train our staff to improve the detection of illegal activities in our industry. The danger of vanishing animals that future generations will never see lies in our generation. We are committed to playing our part to combat this issue.”

The illegal trade of wildlife is the fourth most lucrative black market in the world and threatens the survival of some of the world’s most endangered species - worth around $20 billion a year and impacting more than 7,000 species of animals and plants. Animals and animal products are transported around the globe for trade by traffickers taking advantage of commercial transport services, including aviation. 

AirAsia’s Ongoing Sustainability Efforts and Commitments

Last November, as part of ongoing sustainability efforts and commitments, AirAsia launched a special ‘Save Our Malayan Tiger' livery in support of the government’s campaign, spreading the awareness of conservation and sustainability among guests across its extensive network in ASEAN and beyond. To further drive the message home, AirAsia’s in-flight announcements now include a stern warning on wildlife trafficking.

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About AirAsia’s Sustainability Efforts

AirAsia aims to create long-term stakeholder value through the implementation of initiatives to manage our economic, environmental, and social impact effectively. AirAsia’s sustainability efforts include guest education, carbon emissions reduction, proper waste management, and community-based tourism programmes such as JourneyD. AirAsia also fosters social enterprise initiatives across ASEAN through its philanthropy arm, AirAsia Foundation.