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AirAsia allows Vietnam’s Rio 2016 gold medalist lifetime free flights

AirAsia allows Vietnam’s Rio 2016 gold medalist lifetime free flights

Thursday, August 25, 2016, 18:03 GMT+7

Vietnamese shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh and other Southeast Asian athletes who left Rio 2016 with a gold medal in hand will be able to fly with AirAsia for free in their entire life, the low-cost carrier announced on Wednesday.

While all Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Olympic gold medalists are awarded "free flights for life,” those who won silver and bronze medals would also enjoy free flights for five and two years, respectively, AirAsia said in a statement.

"Eligible athletes will be able to fly to any of the more than 120 destinations within AirAsia and AirAsia X's extensive network in Asia, Australia, the Middle East and Africa," the document reads.

ASEAN is a ten-nation political and economic organization whose members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh is the only Vietnamese beneficiary of this grand promotion by the Malaysia-based carrier.

Vinh made history for Vietnam with a men’s 10m air pistol gold and a men’s 50m pistol bronze at the Games that wrapped up Sunday.

Other Rio 2016 gold medalists who hail from the ten-country bloc are Singaporean swimmer Joseph Schooling, Indonesian badminton duo Liliyana Natsir and Tontowi Ahmad, and Thai weightlifters Sukanya Srisurat and Sopita Tanasan.

The decision to award free flights to ASEAN Olympic medalists appears to come from the strong impression their performances at Rio 2016 have left on AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes.

“What an Olympics this was for ASEAN,” the Malaysian entrepreneur wrote on his verified Facebook account on Wednesday.

“AirAsia which has its roots in ASEAN wants to reward those who gave us so much joy.”

Fernandes said the Southeast Asian medal winners have taught and reminded people in the region “never to give up on [their] dreams and never [to] stop believing [they] can be the best in the world.”

The CEO said the “free flights for life” reward is intended to make “all ASEAN [citizens] to believe they can be the best in the world.”

“Thank you to all the medalists for making us dream and believe,” he concluded.

In an interview with Channel NewsAsia later the same day, Fernandes expressed his hope that the carrier’s move “will also encourage others in the region to follow in their footsteps.”

“I look forward to seeing more medals from ASEAN in future games," he added.

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