We are here because of all of you and in just the first day of sales of the free seat campaign, our website airasia.com registered a phenomenal 300,000,000 hits in the first 11 hours of the campaign, and sold over 300,000 seats in less than 24 hours.

In anticipation of strong demand to our AirAsia’s ‘famous’ Free Seats offer, we have doubled our server capacity to cope the huge increase in demand. Demand has vastly exceeded our expectations partly driven by our entry into new markets such as Australia, United Kingdom, India, China and the Middle East stirring a huge web frenzy resulting in congestion on airasia.com.

With no fuel surcharge and administration fees, the Free Seats are even hotter! For those who have not been able to make a booking, we urge them to be patient and keep trying. After all, the best things in Life are free.

Here are some tips and FAQs.

1) Help! I have a double booking! What should i do?

Stay calm, our Customer Care will assist you. If you failed to call us at +603 2171 9222 (Inquiry) , you can write in your details with PNR Booking numbers to

Malaysia (General):

http://www.airasia.com/site/my/en/faqDetailsForm.jsp

Thailand:

http://www.airasia.com/site/th/th/faqDetailsForm.jsp

Indonesia:

http://www.airasia.com/site/id/id/faqDetailsForm.jsp

Please be patient as our customer care is handling enormous amount of inquiries per every minute and hour :)

2) How come my booking status is still on pending? What should I do?

We have doubled our server's capacity and we have a team on fighting to ensure our servers are running to serve all . Please check back after sometimes and monitor your mailbox for email confirmation.

3) I want to change my flight itinerary to the other dates. What should i do?

You can make your changes at "Manage My Booking" in http://www.airasia.com.

Also do try other new destinations if your desired destination is not available. Tell your friends to rotate on shifts to logon to airasia.com. Best time to login, 3am – 6am. Happy hunting!

My Ventiane food adventure

Lao food or Laos Food in general is pretty interesting to try. I had the pleasure of trying most of them while on my 9 day visit there. From local Lao hawker food to Lao restaurant food, I must say that it was quite an experience for me. Similar to Thailand and Vietnam cuisine, the Lao people also have a main staple of rice or sticky rice.

The first dish that I had on reaching my guesthouse hotel was the Chicken Laap. And I swear, this was the best Laap I have ever tasted considering that Thailand also has a similar dish and most of the local Thai restaurants in my country try to pull it off by claiming theirs are authentic and the best.

Next on the menu were some mini Lao deep fried spring rolls. Similar to the Vietnamese spring rolls, these were much tastier and the sweet chili sauce that came along with it was not as sweet as the ones you usually have. So, a thumbs up for the Lao Spring Rolls from me.

Talat Sao Shopping Center in Vientiane

While exploring the Talat Sao Shopping Mall in Vientiane, we had to try out some of the more modern looking restaurant cafes there. So just at the entrance facing the main post office, there was a nice cosy looking Lao Restaurant. Not to be confused, there is also a food court located inside the Talat Sao Shopping Center. This restaurant is facing the road.

Inside the Talat Sao Food Court, I did get a little greedy and ordered a plate of fried flat noodles. Looking very impressive with the banana flower by the side, I could not wait to dig my chop sticks into this Lao noodle dish. Sadly to my disappointment, this was totally off my taste. It was rather different from the normal Chinese noodles I usually have and I didn't have a clue on how I was to eat that piece of banana flower. I ended up just sampling this noodle and gave it a miss.

Location of this restaurant:

Ground Floor of the Mall at Post Office Entrance.
Talat Sao Shoping Mall,
Vientiane

Khop Chai Deu Restaurant and Bar

Khop Chai Deu is the most popular place in Vientiane. Trust me, everyday I passed the place, it would be packed with people. From locals, foreigners, travelers and backpackers, this was the Hard Rock of Vientiane. No kidding, the crowds just keep pouring in and eventually I had to check out the place to see what was so special about this restaurant and bar.

We went for dinner at the Khop Chai Deu Restaurant and were greeted at the main entrance by some lovely Lao workers. They ushered us to an outdoor table for two and a menu was left with us. In dual languages, it was pretty easy to identify the dishes. They even had a plate of fried bugs on the menu but I gave that a pass. I ended up staying safe by ordering the burger and a good cold Lao Beer. I must say, the food was good, atmosphere and ambiance here is amazing. Check it out when you are in Vientiane, no regrets.

Address in Vientiane:

Khop Chai Deu Reataurant and Bar
54 Setthathirat Rd, Nam Phou, Vientiane, Lao P.D.R.
Tel: +856-21 251564
Catering Service: +856-20 5619107
Email: info@khopchaideu.com
Website: http://www.khopchaideu.com/

Random Local Lao Coffee Shop

Walking around Thanon Fa Ngum Street in Vientiane would pull some surprises when eating at the local coffee shops there. The street is a popular place where most tourist and travelers would wander around day or night. Mainly because most of the hotels and restaurants are located here. So exploring the street, we decided to try out one of the local coffee shops here.

They have outdoor tables where you can sit and watch people so we decided to sit there. The menu was pretty much easy with a lot of local Lao dishes and some Western dishes available. Obviously we went straight for the Lao food. Starting with some Lao raw spring rolls, these were very similar to the Vietnamese spring rolls. Tasted pretty nice too and the sauce that came along was quite tasty.

We then had the Lao Chicken Yellow Curry with sticky rice. This was done superbly as the taste of the yellow curry was really authentic. The flavours were simply awesome and it was not spicy. However, I still have not gotten use to eating sticky rice so I had a little but to compliment the curry and then ordered some plain white rice. So if you are exploring Vientiane, don't forget to check out the local eateries at Thanon Fa Ngum Street which is along the Mekong River. This place is hard to miss in town.

One thing that stood out like a sore thumb would be the local Lao coffee. Looking like a plain cuppa, when you actually drink it, it is really powerful. Laos is well known for their coffee and this clearly showed it. In fact, they serve the coffee with condensed milk usually and I can never forget how strong the Lao local coffee is. Till today, I drink local Malaysian coffee and it is nothing compared to this. If you are a coffee lover, you have to try the Lao coffee in Vientiane and also in Luang Prabang.

Khambang Lao Food Restaurant in Vientiane

One of those nights while asking around with the locals on where we could get some real Lao authentic food and we were directed to this place called Khambang Lao Food Restaurant. Apparently more locals dine here an it was located in one of those roads where there was not much traffic. So even more, it looked really authentic. By the way, we walked here from town center.

At the Khambang Lao Food Restaurant, the people working there did not speak or understand a word of English so we were in for a good time here. Trying to communicate with them was hell as the menu was totally in the Lao language with some pictures. I think we must have spent a good 30 minutes trying to figure out the dishes and when we did, the food came pretty fast.

We had the famous Lao Beef Jerky which was a tad spicy and 3 types of vegetables. Also a bowl of soup served with plain white rice and some sticky rice. Seriously, I would recommend you bring someone local to help you if you plan to come here. The food was pretty good but I had no idea what we ordered besides the Lao Beef Jerky and rice.

Khambang Lao Food Restaurant
049 07 KhounboulomRd Watchan
Vientiane Cap.
LAOS
Tel: +856-21 2171 98
Mobile: +856-20 5324 147

My overall conclusion to Lao food, when you visit Vientiane, just go for it! The food there is simply amazing. If you think you have tried Thai food and found it nice, you have not tried Lao food.

I will be making a return visit to Laos once again in 2010 with Air Asia as it is easy an convenient. Thank you Air Asia for opening up this route.

For the full detailed posting, you can visit my travel blog as I was limited to posting pictures here.

Regards,
David

What a momentous day it was for AirAsia & AirAsia X yesterday. We are humbled to have been jointly awarded the prestigious Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Airline of the Year Award for 2009 this year at the CAPA Aviation Awards for Excellence presentation ceremony, held at the Great Wall Sheraton in Beijing, China.

We can only thank each and everyone of you out there who has supported us through the years, and grow together with us every moment of the way. We only look forward to continue doing our best, ensuring that all of you will have more great stories to share with us, and about us.

“From 2 planes to 80 and from 200,000 to over 75 million passengers in just a short 7 years marks unprecedented growth by any airline globally, let alone a low fare airline like AirAsia. We are deeply flattered to accept this award and this shall further bolster our pledge ? to provide superior services coupled with our low fares plus diverse service options to our guests. This is our promise,” he concluded.

The CAPA Airline of the Year 2009 award is deemed the uppermost level of recognition given to airlines for excellent achievements in the aviation industry and outstanding strategic contribution over the course of the past year.

Our Group CEO, Tony Fernandes was awarded the CAPA Legend Award (Aviation Hall of Fame) for 2009 for shaping the way the aviation industry has evolved, along with Dato’ Seri Bashir Ahmad (Managing Director of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad), Ray Webster (founding CEO of EasyJet), Dr Cheong Choong Kong (former Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Airlines) and Maurice Flanagan (founding Vice Chairman, Emirates Airline) who were previous winners of this award.

Many more things that you can look forward to from us, such as new routes, greater network, & groundbreaking lie-flat bed seats next year! :)

Achieving this might not have been easy, but this is proof that if one dares to dream the impossible, believe the unbelievable & never take no for an answer... all things are possible.

Let's continue to make more dreams come true :)

It was indeed a great occassion when a baby was born on one of our planes. Much has been heard about the mother & baby Asia, but here's an account from the doctor himself , who assisted with the delivery of the baby on board. Thank you, Dr. Ronald for being a blessing :)

Enjoy reading, everyone!

I was on my journey home from Penang after attending a 3-day course. Less than one hour into the flight, I was reading the The Edge in flight, waiting for my online pre-booked Nasi Lemak.

The running footsteps of a cabin crew broke the ‘silence’ (the humming of the airbus jet).

“Is there such a need to run in plane? This is really disturbing,” I asked myself.

The cabin crew announced the need for medical assistance. Immediately, I thought to myself, “Maybe someone is suffering from air sickness… no big deal.”

The captain walked to the back of the plane while others started whispering “Gosh… the lady is in labour pain!” and that alerted me.

It occurred to me ‘who else have to do the work?’ I approached the scene immediately.

“Don’t come near, I am a doctor”.

“Why did you not respond during the first call? Could you please show me your proof as a doctor?” one of the crew asked me.

I had my official ID card together in my handcarry, so no problem, but some embarrassment.

I was introduced to the mother, and had her answer a few questions. She answered, “This is second baby and the first is 7 years old”.

I examined her, (head presentation, cervix full dilatation), then I reassured the mother and the crews (more reassurance needed for the crews).

“How long will this last before delivery?” one of the crew asked.

“It could be in minutes”. We were all working together to comfort the mother.

There was no way to halt the delivery, I had to conduct the delivery, proper protection, proper maneuver, instruct the mother to push at proper time… (don’t worry we actually had plenty of plastic gloves and tissues). Everything was very standard except that it was not in a labour room setting.

A baby boy was born and his crying triggered much cheer and joy from everyone. Delivery was completed while we were still flying with about less than half an hour to landing.

After landing, the ground medical team took over to care for the mother and the newborn baby.
Being able to experience this in a flight is exceptional, as it is a rare occasion.

Furthermore, it did not the matter if I was the doctor, but I could imagine how it would be like if a doctor was not present.

Imagine these uncool scenarios: i) the mother was alone during labour, ii) the mother in labour attended only by a helpless doctor, iii) the mother and baby safe, but no emergency landing and admission to good centre for further care.

The examplary professionalism was heartfelt, the pilot made the best decision to reroute and landed safely, the air hostesses did the best in accompanying and helping the mother at her most painful time, the doctor conducted the delivery and the ground medical team ever-readily took over the duty.

Praise to everyone.

Not sure if I would be meeting the mother & baby again, but I wished them the best, and I am definitely happy seeing them living well. Am also glad to hear the name Asia Liew Ya Hang for the baby, as it is huge and signifies rich and fast growing over the continent with many possibilities, like AirAsia.

All in all, an incident like this could have caused everyone maximal distress, but I am thankful to have bagged a truly remarkable memory with this experience.

Stands were packed, the atmosphere buzzing, and the engines revving! For the first time in nearly 10 years, Malaysians had their own riders to support...and you have to admit, they did it in style, with a slick looking bike and suit (not biased at all of course)

After great practice and qualifying sessions, it was already looking up for AirAsia Team Malaysia, but at the same time everyone was keeping cool under the spot light and trying not to lose focus among all the attention.

Elly Idzlianizar Ilias and Mohd Zulfahmi Khairuddin, the AirAsia Team Malaysia MotoGP 125cc Riders ended up in 16th and 20th place (respectively) at the end of today's race - just narrowly missing out on World Championship points - which is a great result.
After months and months of preparation (selection process for the rider's started back in May), today made it all worth it.

We're ready to take on the world!

In the pits, everyone wanted pictures with the boys, with our lovely flight attendants, who were there to support the event - and there was a real excitement in the air. For me, it was the first time at a MotoGP and I loved it - and after a little taster, I'm definitely going to keep up to date with next year's competition when it starts back up again - maybe with a full Malaysian Team entered...and just think, I'm not even Malaysian, so goodness knows how you are all feeling now that you have MotoGP heroes to look up to!!

But seriously, I think it's great that Malaysia can fully utilize all the potential talent it has, and open up new doors for young aspiring riders, engineers, technicians...and all the other positions that are involved in MotoGP and all motor sports.

Today was a great day for AirAsia and Malaysia - together, AirAsia Team Malaysia showed the world what is capable of happening when you work hard towards the same goal.

Well done Elly, well done Fahmi, well done AirAsia Team Malaysia, and well done Malaysia!