In a heartfelt gesture, the management and crew of AirAsia and AirAsia X gathered on the runway yesterday to pay tribute to Anaz, who was described as the “spirit of AirAsia” in a Facebook posting by AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes.
Fernandes also uploaded two live videos of the simple tribute in which key management personnel said a few words in memory of Anaz and introduced the plane, a A330 XXH carrying three large images of a smiling Anaz.
In two of the images Anaz is seen wearing the instantly recognisable corporate “red” of AirAsia. The words “A truly passionate allstar” is emblazoned across the body of the plane above the images of Anaz, including the words “Anaz The Legend”.
In the video, Fernandes said, “We’re here to give tribute to one of our wonderful staff Anaz, who left us all too quickly.”
Ben Ismail, CEO of AirAsia X, meanwhile said, “It’s a great day together. We are celebrating Anaz being one of the most important men in AirAsia … as you can see, I dedicated one of our aircrafts to him.
“The whole world has seen Anaz – from Japan to Australia to China to Sri Lanka.” he said of the aircraft with Anaz’s images that was already flying.
Meanwhile Kamarudin Meranun, AirAsia executive chairman said, “Hi guys, we are here to remember our dear brother Anaz. It’s happy because we still remember him but it’s also a sad affair. Having looked at the plane, it’s been great. (Anaz is) a very passionate Allstar and a very dear brother.
Also saying a few words in memory of Anaz was AirAsia CEO Aireen Omar. “It’s a fantastic plane, it’s lovely. Certainly very artistic also… something that I will alway remember Anaz of.”
At the time of writing, the video uploads had received 23,000 views, 1,300 “likes” and been shared by 51 Facebook users.
https://www.facebook.com/tonyfernandes/videos/1033655760067595/
https://www.facebook.com/tonyfernandes/videos/1033652010067970/