AirAsia keeps it radiant and relevant for the holidays
Karlo Sanchez, head of Philippines AirAsia Ancillary group (second from left), Captain Dexter Comendador, Philippines AirAsia CEO, Luca Vezzaro, founder and president of Sunny Sonny Story, Catherine Cabahug, resident manager of Tarsier Botanika, and Carlo Moletti, co-partner of Sunny Sonny Story holding Sunny Sonny Story lanterns during the product launch at Tarsier Botanika in Bohol. CAMILLE DE GUIA/INQUIRER.net
Lighting up the holidays gets a new meaning with AirAsia’s latest initiative aimed at giving the gift of light this season.
For the holidays, AirAsia collaborated with social enterprise Sunny Sonny Story to bring hope and illumination to communities in need, an initiative they launched along with the airline’s holiday catalogue.
“We at AirAsia are proud of our collaborative nature. We are happy and excited to work side by side with Tarsier Botanika and Sunny Sonny Story,” said Philippines AirAsia CEO Captain Dexter Comendador during the launch of AirAsia’s holiday catalogue at Tarsier Botanika earlier this week.
“Being involved [in] this project is truly a gift that enables us to give back to the communities that we serve.”
Inspired, innovative
Responding to the need for a renewable and reliable light source particularly in remote areas and in impoverished communities, AirAsia and Sunny Sonny Story came up with a meaningful gift that would last its receivers way beyond the holidays.
“Pinoy ako sa puso (I am Pinoy at heart), I am Pinoy, truly. when I came to the Philippines for the first time 26 years ago, I noticed, unfortunately, when I landed in Manila, there were a lot of brownouts. 2016, almost nothing changed. There are now, 54 million kababayans living without the luxury of light. We came up with something unique and we’d like to thank AirAsia for having belief in us, in the product and especially in our mission,” said Luca Vezzaro, president and founder of Sunny Sonny Story, during the launch.
“We at Sunny Sonny Story as adopted Filipinos want to give the right to light to everyone. It is our way to enlighten the lives of less-fortunate people.”
Sunny Sonny Story lantern and shirts. CAMILLE DE GUIA/INQUIRER.net
READ: ‘Everyone has a right to light’
The Sunny Sonny Story Lantern is an inflatable, solar-powered lantern that can provide light for up to 8 hours. It was inspired by and named after a young boy who survived typhoon Haiyan three years ago. The lantern is also waterproof, making it a dependable and renewable source of light. And since it is inflatable, it also floats on water and is portable.
The Sunny Sonny Story Lantern is a safer alternative to candles and kerosene lamps, so it’s ideal for outdoor use, for use during power outages and during travel emergencies.
The Sunny Sonny Story Lantern is now available on all Philippines AirAsia flights for only P650 with 10% of the total sales to be donated to impoverished communities affected by typhoons or natural calamities. You can also buy one lantern and donate another to a community in need for P1,050.
Aside from this unique item, AirAsia also offers a variety of vacation essentials featured in their holiday catalogue. AirAsia’s in-flight merchandise includes items from Sunnies sunglasses, Human Nature personal care products, and, of course, Air Asia’s own brand of merchandise ranging from stationery to toys and gift sets.
AirAsia in-flight merchandise. CAMILLE DE GUIA/INQUIRER.net
