Bangkok--20 Aug--Thai AirAsia Awarded at the 2007 Frost & Sullivan Industrial Technologies Awards The leading and largest low cost carrier, AirAsia adds another feather to its cap when Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company honoured AirAsia Academy the prestigious Airline Human Capital Development Strategy Award for the Asian Commercial Pilot Training Market today. The Award was presented to YBhg Dato Tony Fernandes by Guest of Honour, Mr Edwin Khew, President of Singapore Manufacturing Association. The Award is presented to AirAsia Academy in recognition of the airline’s demonstration of excellence in improving their training quality and human capital development within the industry. The airline has consistently shown innovation in competitive strategies to stay ahead in this challenging market to emerge as the leading contender for this Award. Tony Fernandes, Group Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia, said, “It is an honour to be recognized for our efforts and dedication in elevating the standards of training and development of our pilots and it is also a validation of our aggressive pursuance in competitive strategies. Looking back, the AirAsia Academy was built when AirAsia had a humble fleet of seven (7) aircraft and yet through foresight, we are able to envisage the growth of the company despite the challenging market dynamics and competition posed by full service carriers. Going only into our 6th year, we have 57 aircraft today and will soon have a fleet of 150 aircraft. Through our perseverance and dedication, putting in place a strategy of growth has now granted us the recognition on the global front by Frost & Sullivan which we know will inspire us to continue our efforts to excel and hopefully, the benchmark for many others in terms of best operational practices.” Tony continued, “Rather than limiting ourselves in terms of human resources and outsource our training and development, we took it upon ourselves to build an academy capable of building and developing our own human capital, and it is indeed rewarding to see batches of our pilots graduating every year, supporting our rapid expansion growth in continuing to be the leading low cost carrier in Asia and soon globally.” Mohamed Haris Izmee, Consultant for Aerospace & Defense Practice of Frost & Sullivan, said "Airlines in Asia are continuously positioning themselves to meet the tremendous growth of air travel demands in order to sustain and gain market share in an era of air transport revolution in this developing region. Over the years, AirAsia has grown from strength-to-strength and has reshaped the airline industry in Asia. The airline has shown remarkable achievements through its people by providing excellent human capital developments that led to the company's innovative strategies in becoming one of the world's renowned airlines." The research methodology of the Award rests on Frost & Sullivan’s expertise in evaluating AirAsia against other leading airlines in Asia and outside of Asia Pacific. Airlines in this category were analyzed in terms of their strategy innovation on how they respond to these market dynamics. Market penetration of these airlines was tracked along with their market share growth, and investment strategies were also analyzed to determine their growth rates in the market. About AirAsia Academy The AirAsia Academy first started its operation in April 2005. Located on plot Pt 25, adjacent to the Malaysian Airports Sepang Holding’s engineering complex, the 2-storey AirAsia Academy building spans a total of 53,782 sq. ft. and is currently being expanded to [no] sq. ft. The AirAsia Academy currently houses three (3) full flight simulators and has the capacity to accommodate six (6). The simulators are an essential part of the training programme for pilots. The building also comes complete with a computer-based training rooms, a hall which can be converted into classrooms, and rooms for training devices to cater to various training programmes designed for AirAsia’s engineers, pilots and cabin crew. About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has been partnering with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for more than 40 years. The company's industry expertise integrates growth consulting, growth partnership services, and corporate management training to identify and develop opportunities. Frost & Sullivan serves an extensive clientele that includes Global 1000 companies, emerging companies, and the investment community by providing comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique global perspective, and combines ongoing analysis of markets, technologies, econometrics, and demographics. For more information, visit www.frost.com. For further information, MEDIA please contact AirAsia Media Relations Team : Janet Leow My Office No : +603 8660 4265 My Email : [email protected] Andrea Liong My Office No : +603 8660 4287 My Email : [email protected] Mazlan Rasheed My Office No : +603 8660 4263 My Email : [email protected]