AirAsia Foundation
Our philanthropic contributions are carried out primarily by AirAsia Foundation (AAF) whose goal is to help build an Asean community of the future by advocating social entrepreneurship, innovation and inclusivity.

The foundation focus on three areas:

Social Enterprise Support
In 2020, the Foundation scaled back on its grant-making activities under the direction of its Council. Using healthy reserves, however, it was still able to disburse three new grants while continuing to fund ongoing projects approved in prior years. The Foundation also prioritised the expansion of its retail outlet, Destination GOOD.

Social Enterprise Grant Programme
In 2020, AAF approved three new social enterprise grants totalling RM189,104.
The three successful grantees are:

In addition to the above grants, AAF continued the disbursement of outstanding grant commitments to Opendream, a Bangkok-based technology social enterprise; and Langit Collective in Malaysia, both approved in November 2019. 

Opendream developed Small World, promoting a mobile gaming app that maps out social enterprises, heritage sites and local tourism experiences in cities and towns in Asean, while promoting responsible travel practices.

Langit conducts capacity building workshops for Orang Asal farmers to implement climate-smart rice cultivation solutions in Long Semadoh Valley in Sarawak and to achieve organic farming certification.

Anti-Trafficking 

We recognise our responsibility to help identify potential human trafficking situations. Thus, AAF’s #KnowtheSigns programme was created to train Allstars to recognise the signs of trafficking on flights and to take appropriate action. This programme alerts our crew to human rights abuses taking place using air transportation while providing guests (trafficking victims and general guests) with a safer flying experience.

Throughout the first three years of implementation, the programme focused on delivering classroom training to cabin crew members. With the onset of COVID-19 social distancing requirements, the training programme was shifted online via an e-learning module which was launched on 30 July 2020 in conjunction with World Day Against Trafficking.

Humanitarian Assistance
In 2020, AAF carried out a donation drive to support several NGO partners to address the basic needs of marginalised communities impacted by the pandemic.

The year also marked the completion of support for the “To Indonesia with Love” project, which started in 2018 in aid of relief and rehabilitation efforts in Palu and Lombok, Indonesia after the two cities were hit by a succession of earthquakes and tsunamis.

AAF disbursed a final tranche of RM1.2 million to Yayasan Arkom Indonesia with a total donation of RM 3.8 million, the project has funded:

• Development of 4 comprehensive village planning that consists of detailed guidelines and conceptual data for coastal area planning. 

• Construction of 82 permanent earthquake-resistant houses using models and innovative building technology 

• Construction of 4 village community centres 

• Apprenticeship and livelihood training in bamboo craftsmanship and brick-making  workshops to enable local communities to earn sustainable income post-disaster

In This Together Donation Drive
Following the Movement Control Order, AirAsia Foundation in partnership with BigPay initiated an online drive to raise funds for severely impacted communities, in particular B40 families, indigenous people, refugees and people without permanent shelter.

The four-week campaign raised over RM130,000 which was disbursed to five social enterprises and charities, namely Perak State Parks, SEED Foundation, Beyond Borders Malaysia, Our Journey and the Malaysian Association for the Blind. On top of that, AirAsia Foundation donated RM50,000 to fivs of its social enterprise grantees that were severely affected by movement restrictions imposed across the region.

With the balance of donation funds, AirAsia Foundation partnered with social enterprise Batik Boutique to donate 247 units of personal protective equipment (PPE) to Hospital Kuala Kangsar, in Perak, Malaysia.

AirAsia Rescue and Repatriation Flights
Throughout 2020, AirAsia operated a total of 14 rescue and repatriation flights at the request of ASEAN governments to bring more than 15,000 stranded nationals home and help foreigners return to their respective countries. In The Philippines, PAA also operated 396 domestic rescue flights to help thousands of stranded locals and foreign tourists return to their home provinces and National Capital Region (Manila).

Cargo-Only Medical Aid Flights
In March 2020, Teleport became the first in Malaysia to operate passenger aircraft for cargo-only flying. This was necessary not only to meet overwhelming customer demand but, more importantly, to support the critical need to transport medical aid and essential goods in response to the global pandemic.

Throughout the year, Teleport operated over 1,400 cargo-only flights to 46 destinations on behalf of partners including The Edge COVID-19 Fund, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Malaysia, The Jack Ma Foundation and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
This included more than 360 Transportation of Cargo in Passenger Cabin (TCPC) flights in which additional cargo loaded on seats, overhead storage compartments and under the seats.

IKHLAS

IKHLAS was launched in April 2020 as a new line of business under AirAsia to provide faith-based services to Muslim communities. This includes religious obligations such as Umrah, Qurban and Shariah-compliant lifestyle choices. Partnering with its official foundation, Yayasan Amanah AsSofwah AlMalikiyayah, IKHLAS undertook over 20 campaigns in 2020.

In May, it launched the Give with IKHLAS campaign, an online donation drive to feed the underprivileged and frontliners in Malaysia. A total of RM1,322,267 was raised and channelled towards the distribution of 54,074 meals and essential items to 16,016 families. In addition, 20,000 face masks and 400 bottles of hand sanitiser were handed out.

A second campaign, IKHLAS for Sabah, was launched in October 2020 that raised RM217,879 to support 3,071 families primarily in Red Zone locations, in addition to 40,000 face masks, 900 bottles of hand sanitiser and 500 PPE.

Other than this, 257 donation drives were organised to distribute essential items, ready meals and PPE to the needy.

Other Notable Efforts
Other efforts made across the Group in AirAsia are:

For full details and the complete AirAsia Sustainability Report 2020, click here.