When I heard the news that AirAsia is going to sponsor the NFL Oakland Raiders team, I thought it was cool. But not more than that. That's it. Until I saw the new A340 which has the Oakland Raiders livery parked in the hangar. It was really cool. I guess it was more than cool.

I started to google and learned a little bit more about the team. As a sportsperson myself - anything to do with team sports - I get a little bit excited. Luckily for me, in that particular week, the day they held the launch ceremony was the only day I had no class to teach. Immediately I informed my boss to get her permission to attend , and yeay!!! Green light!!!

The launch itself was simple but exciting. Personally I love basketball and if it was the Lakers , I might have jumped on them!! I don't even know how American football is played but I have always loved all the movies about the game such as "Remember the Titans" as it provides motivation to my players. And here I was, seeing and meeting the Oakland Raiders,a famous American football team from the US, is something that I have never dreamt before.
After the launch, we visited the aircraft and had a photography session with the Raiders, and I thought that would be all.

So what came up next? This was the best part - Priya from Corporate Comm called me and informed that Tony was bringing them for a visit to the AirAsia Academy!! I was really, really excited! I couldn't help myself smiling from ear to ear and I was practically 'bouncing' and 'jumping' everywhere in the office, feeling excited. Why? Because usually if there is any visitors to the Academy, I would be the one who would bring them for a tour. Yes!!!

The big boss himself brought the group and lead the tour, which includes Mark Davis , the owner of Oakland Raiders, 3 Raiders legends: Ted Hendricks, Rod Martin and Cliff Branch ( really huge guys) and 4 sexy and beautiful Raiderettes ( their famous official cheerleaders!!) We went into all the classrooms and also the simulator ride.

The Raiders Legends

Tony and the Raiderettes in one of our training room.

It was an AMAZING and UNFORGETTABLE experience being with them and getting to know them. My boss and colleagues asked what was so special about it that makes me so excited. Everybody seemed not being able to capture the feeling that I had.
This is how I see it : Even if you have the chance to go to the US, and you have the chance to watch them play live at the stadium, you might not have the chance to get close and personal with them! And I had a great moment learning basic American football from Ted Hendricks himself!!

With Mark Davis and the beautiful Raiderettes.

The whole experience was definitely an experience of a lifetime and thank you to AirAsia to let me be part of this great team ;-)

p/s: Maybe I should start to dream meeting the Lakers!

Xanadu Calling: Name a Plane and Get your Name on a Plane!

It all happened in March when AirAsia Blog started this competition in conjunction with the delivery of their new planes. Out of boredom I decided to give the competition a try, having gone through words with “ex” prefix, I decided to nominate, “xcellence”.

As fate would have it, AirAsia X did a tie-up with US based NFL Football team The Oakland Raiders and coincidently, their motto was, “commitment to excellence”. Hance, the name that I gave, was chosen for the new plane, an Airbus 340 was painted in a radical Oakland Raider livery, complete with football players on one side, cheerleaders on the other, and spotting an eye-patch no less!

9M-XAC is the second Airbus 340 for AirAsia X, this comes after the first Airbus 340, “xcalibur” made headlines for providing passenger better and low cost option for the KUL-STN (London) route. Now with two long-range aircraft, AirAsia X is able to provide daily flights to the city of London.

Words could not describe what I felt the day I attended the launch of AirAsia X latest plane, to have my name on a plane of a truly Malaysian born company was indeed an honour. As if that wasn’t enough, I was presented with a return ticket to any of AirAsia X’s destination. There is no guessing where I will go. LONDON here I come babe! What a wonderful experience it was!

To top things off, I had the opportunity to brush shoulders with famous celebrities and even strike a pose with the Raiderettes! Oakland Raiders official Cheerleaders! What a blast that was! To Azran Osman-Rani, it was indeed an honour to meet with you and thank you! To Fara, Daisy and Yvonne, thanks for everything! You guys rock! To AirAsia and AirAsia X, keep flying high! You are truly the pride of Malaysia and Asia!

Take care and god bless!

Love,
Kenneth Chong.

At a little after 3pm on Friday, Captain Michael and First Officer Zulishmadi flew the newly painted 9M-XAC aircraft (AirAsia X's latest Airbus A340) back from Singapore, after it completed its livery painting. I was fortunate to be back in Kuala Lumpur during this historic event! I personally knew Captain Michael and was pleasantly surprised to find him being the test pilot assigned to bring back the new big bird!

The first thing I did when I arrived on the aircraft was obviously make my way to the flight deck. Captain Michael was so helpful to even snap a few pics and tease me with "soon.. soon..". Boy was I high sitting on the deck. This time around, looking at the instruments and reading the flight data computers etc, I kinda had a rough idea of what everything meant! Imagine, less than 6 months ago, I had no idea what most of anything meant.... but yeah, I kinda knew that if you move the joystick down, the plane goes up. Hahahah

Now down to business. My first impression of the seats in the new Airbus A340 was, oh my god, was it big!!! I mean for a guy like me, who could actually sit in the regular seats.... and still feel comfortable, okay I was VERY impressed!!! Check them out!!!! They are 8 abreast.... and they are spacious!!!

Of course when it comes to the XL Seats, now they are to die for! Here I am seated with Captain Michael who is also the Chief Flying Officer for Technical Development at AirAsia together with Azran Osman Rani, the CEO of AirAsia X and Kathleen Tan the Commercial Director for the AirAsia Group.


Here is a pic of the plane from the outside.....






Oakland Raiders Baby!!!!! Yeps.. thats us again together with the Co-Pilot for the day, First Officer Zulismadi Sham from the A340 Fleet.


So now, if you wanna go to London.... You could be flying on this beauty!!!! BTW, I strongly recommend the XL seats. Like FOR REAL. Of course if you don't have such a big bum like me, the regular seats are good enough........ but hey, Xtra Comfort goes a long way when doing long haul on the worlds best low cost airline... AirAsia!


More updates soon.... Stay tuned!


Regards,
JFK.