Malaysia’s budget airlines AirAsia has announced that it will offer lifetime free flights to all ASEAN athletes who won a gold medal at the recent Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The airlines will also reward silver and bronze medalists from ASEAN countries with free flights in five and two years, respectively.

The medalists can fly to anywhere of the carrier’s 120 destinations in Asia, including 10 ASEAN countries, Australia, the Middle East and Africa.

Malaysia’s News Agency Bernama quoted AirAsia’s Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes as saying it is the most modest thing that the group could do to the athletes.

He also hoped athletes will be models in encouraging people in the region in striving for their dreams. 

Rio Olympic gold medalists from ASEAN nations included Vietnamese shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh, Singaporean swimmer Joseph Schooling, Indonesian badminton pair Tontowi Ahmad and Liliana Natsir and Thai weightlifters Sopita Tanasan and Sukanya Srisurat.

VNA