“Hello, my name is Alfred, what is your name and where have you come from for this party?”

“Hi. Matthew. I’ve flown in from Sydney”

“From Sydney! You must really like Taylor Swift!”

“Yeah, she’s great, and I also love Air Asia, this is so exciting!”

Spoken to first person I met at the launch of Taylor Swifts tour of South East Asia and the new aircraft livery resplendently painted onto one of their Airbus a320’s. As you may know. I’m a HUGE fan of Air Asia and Air Asia X and was absolutely thrilled to be invited to Kuala Lumpur for this special event at the Mandarin Oriental’s Sultan Lounge.

Air Asia is the official airline for Taylor Swifts South East Asian leg of THE RED TOUR. The multi Grammy award winning artist kicked off her tour on June 4th in Jakarta before heading to Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. There were plans for a Bangkok concert, but that was recently cancelled due to the current political situation in Thailand. As a result, a second Singapore concert was announced with over 1000 tickets set aside for Thai’s and I’m sure they’ll take advantage of Air Asia’s low fares to get there.

The launch party and unveilling of a special Airbus a320 painted in a Taylor Swift livery was held in the Sultan Lounge at the Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur . The venue was suitably decked out in splashes of red and as the guests arrived, also dressed in red, the excitement grew.

After a warm welcome from emcee Yasmin Hani, a well known Malaysian actor and TV presenter, she introduced Air Asia CEO Aireen Omar who said
“Taylor Swift’s tour will be kicking off in South East Asia soon, and we are looking forward to welcome Taylor Swift and her crew on board our special aircraft. At Air Asia, we’ve always taken branding to a different level and this opportunity to work with Taylor and her team marks yet another milestone for us as we continue to build the brand globally,”
Aireen then handed over to a video message from Taylor Swift herself who thanks us all for coming and wished us an amazing night before it was time for the new aircraft livery to be revealed.

Aireen unveiled the special livery and when the curtain dropped and the large model of the Air Asia Airbus a320 painted in the new Taylor Swift livery, hands were clapping and cameras went crazy. The aircraft was in the airlines colours of red and white with Air Asia on the tail. The main fuselage has TAYLOR SWIFT emblazoned down in white standing out dramatically against the rich red and two pictures of the artist are depicted either side of the lettering. The engine cowlings with the words Taylor Swift in black and 2014 in red stood out against the white background of the casing.

This was the latest aircraft livery to be added to Air Asia’s extensive list of unique aircraft liveries, and fans of Taylor Swift around the region will be able to see this special aircraft livery for the next one year, as this aircraft will also be servicing Air Asia routes throughout the South East Asian region.

After the official speeches, there was a stand up buffet full of delectable hot and cold dishes which were replaced by the chefs on a regular basis. Soft drinks, juices and mocktails were available from the bar or from roving waiters and no one was left thirsty. A few prizes from tour t-shirts to concert tickets were given out for those fans of Taylor Swift who knew such things as the tour dates, cities or could sing one of her songs (and the girl who won the singing was quite good!)

The airline had also been operating a RED HOT Truck in conjunction with THE RED TOUR, which covered three states in Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor Bahru from 5th – 18th of May; where Taylor Swift fans were able to participate in engaging activities for chances to win concert tickets, merchandise and more. The truck was parked outside the hotel and all were invited to sing for a chance to win great prizes. People are scared of my singing voice, so I didn’t attempt getting up and ending the fun.

I had a fabulous evening, met some lovely people and was overjoyed to have been invited to this special event and seeing the Airbus a320 in its special livery.

Air Asia and Air Asia X serves 88 destinations on 22 countries including six Australian cities, Adelaide, Darwin, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

To check out their low fares and book visit www.airasia.com 

FreakyFlier flew to Kuala Lumpur and attended the party as a guest of Air Asia X.