Published on
November 14, 2025
AirAsia has been honoured with the 2025 FTE APAC Airline Pioneer Award, recognising the airline’s outstanding leadership in transforming the travel experience through innovative digital solutions and operational excellence. The prestigious award celebrates AirAsia’s relentless commitment to reshaping air travel, leveraging cutting-edge technology to enhance every step of the passenger journey. From seamless booking and automated visa checks to self-tagging and flight rebooking features, AirAsia continues to set new standards in efficiency and convenience for travellers across Asia. This recognition highlights the airline’s dedication to providing a modern, frictionless experience that meets the evolving needs of today’s tech-savvy passengers.
The airline has consistently focused on integrating technology into its operations to enhance comfort and convenience for travellers. By combining affordable airfares with world-class service and flexible offerings, AirAsia has raised the bar for what passengers can expect from budget airlines in Asia. The airline’s continued commitment to digital transformation ensures that the overall travel experience is seamless and efficient.
At the heart of this transformation is the AirAsia MOVE app, which enables guests to manage every aspect of their journey, from booking flights to selecting seats and receiving real-time updates. The app’s cutting-edge features include Auto Visa Check (AVC) for automated visa validation, Open Baggage Belt for self-tagging and baggage drop, and Self Move Flight (SRO) for automatic rebooking during disruptions, all designed to enhance convenience and speed up airport processes.
This recognition reflects AirAsia’s commitment to leveraging innovation to enhance operational efficiency and provide passengers with a smoother, more enjoyable travel experience. As the airline continues to build on its achievements, it remains focused on making air travel more accessible, comfortable, and streamlined through the power of technology.
Kesavan Sivanandam, Chief Transformation Officer and Chief Airport & Customer Experience Officer of AirAsia said: “Serving nearly 200,000 guests a day across more than 130 destinations, our focus has always been to make travel simple, efficient and accessible to everyone. What began as a counter-based process has evolved into a digital ecosystem powered by people and technology, where AI and real-time tools help us enhance efficiency, communication and responsiveness every day.”
“As we grow globally, we’re reimagining travel through smarter design and integrated systems that simplify journeys for guests while transforming how our teams work behind the scenes. With innovations like ‘Red App’ – our new mobile departure control systems, we’re empowering our Allstars to work faster and more seamlessly, be it internally or with external stakeholders, to further improve the guest experience whilst stepping up operational excellence.”
Ryan Ghee, Chief Operating Officer of Future Travel Experience added, “AirAsia continues to play a leading role in driving innovation forward for the aviation industry. Ranging from its organisation-wide digital transformation initiatives to its use of the latest technologies to simplify and enhance the customer experience, innovation is clearly at the very heart of the airline. For this reason, AirAsia is a well deserving recipient of the FTE APAC Airline Pioneer Award 2025.”
The Future Travel Experience (FTE) Award honours exceptional innovation and leadership in reshaping the air travel experience. This esteemed recognition celebrates organisations and individuals who are leading transformative change in aviation, leveraging technology, enhancing customer experience, and driving sustainability. Their efforts are setting new standards for the future of travel.
Having flown nearly one billion passengers since its inception, AirAsia continues to prioritise expanding accessibility, improving connectivity, and delivering seamless travel experiences. The airline is committed to keeping guests at the centre of every journey, ensuring that each step of the travel process is smooth and efficient.
