COOLANGATTA, QLD/AUS (Tuesday, 3 March 2020) - AirAsia and the World Surf League (WSL) Asia Pacific are pleased to announce the extension of their partnership for 2020.
As the Official Airline Partner of the WSL APAC, the world's best low-cost airline will continue to roll out the AirAsia Beach Club and the AirAsia Flight Cam at each event of the Aussie leg. The activations will begin with the Sydney Surf Pro, Corona Open Gold Coast, and continue through to the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach and Margaret River Pro.
WSL Asia Pacific General Manager Andrew Stark said; "WSL is thrilled to be continuing our partnership with AirAsia. Surfers are keen and committed travellers, finding waves in all corners of the globe to satisfy their desire for waves and adventure. AirAsia is an airline that makes these dreams of waves and adventure a reality and for that are a great partner for the World surf League.
"We're really excited about the continuation of these programs but especially the engagement of our fans through this partnership at each of our biggest events in Australia for 2020."
AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail said "AirAsia connects some of the world's best surfing destinations, from Australia's beautiful beaches to the vast and varied coastlines of Asia so this partnership is a natural fit for us. Our guests love surfing as much as we do and we now have thousands of surfers travelling with us each year, taking advantage of our extensive network and surfboards fly free policy.
"Our research shows that when they're not taking up homegrown waves Australians love places like Bali, Padang, the Maldives and Sri Lanka for their surfing fix. A newcomer on our network, Lombok, is also proving to be a fast growing favourite."
AirAsia will extend its ‘Surfboards Fly Free' initiative in 2020, meaning surfers from Australia will be able to travel with their surfboard with no excess luggage cost, to any of the surfing hotspots found in AirAsia's network of more than 160 destinations.
Hottest 5 surf spots for every surfer revealed
1.The Mentawai Islands (Padang, Indonesia) Seems surfers are spreading the word about this gem of a destination as it has seen the biggest increase in passengers over the past year, up a massive 41%. The Mentawais is a remote chain of about seventy islands and islets approximately 150 kilometres off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. It's popularity is unsurprising as it offers some of the best surf to be found anywhere in the world and attracts swells all year round with the most consistent season generally being between March and November.
2. Sri Lanka Beautiful Sri Lanka was named as Lonely Planet's number 1 destination for 2019 travel and is slowly returning to its former glory following terror attacks in April last year. Surfers of all abilities are catered for and discerning travellers can take advantage of the quieter resorts, beaches and breaks! AirAsia offers daily flights from Kuala Lumpur to Colombo with good connections from its Australian ports available. **
- The Maldives** The Maldives conjures up picture perfect postcard imagery for most and also has some pretty amazing surf breaks. The vest bit - AirAsia makes this dream destination affordable! Consisting of more than 1000 coral islands, 80 of which are tourist resorts, the Maldivian surf season runs from mid February to November.
4. Bali A consistent favourite for Aussies looking for an overseas adventure without trekking too far is Bali - and passenger numbers are up 13% since last year to this surfing destination. And it's no wonder, Bali is an all-year round surfing destination which is also famous for its mountains, culture, rice paddies and great food.
5. Lombok A new addition to AirAsia's Australian routes is the picturesque Indonesian island of Lombok. Located to the east of Bali, the white sandy beaches and clear turquoise oceans extend up to the Gili Islands which also offer prime surfing conditions.