Jaunted

See what we mean:

Despite the global economic donwturn, AirAsia continued to embark on numerous branding campaigns which not only became the industry's benchmark, but also led the way to demonstrate aggressive branding efforts essential to keep the brand relevant, alive and fresh especially during challenging times. 'As a young airline, we are elated with this win as it is an important recognition to our tireless efforts in bringing the AirAsia brand to the forefront,' said AirAsia Regional Commercial Head Kathleen Tan.

Of course any PR department worth its salt can get someone somewhere to declare them the brand of the year. Air Arabia just got named "Low-Cost Carrier of the Year" at three different conferences and summits. We know that because all three prizes got bundled into a single press release that included phrases like "value for money," which is sort of a real phrase but not the way they use it. Still—if you're looking for an LCC to get to Doha, apparently Air Arabia is the LCC that everyone says everyone else is taking.

All that aside, AirAsia actually has a pretty compelling claim to customer allegiance. They service a geographically discrete area filled with booming economies, billions of people, and insane growth projections and they're good at it. That's excellent news for US consumers, since the airline has been flirting with expanding its presence in the US market. It's however much less reassuring for the major airlines and LCCs that will have to compete with them.

[Photo: mailer_diablo / Wiki Commons]

Related Stories:
· AirAsia wins Brand of the Year award [MySinchew]
· Air Asia [Jaunted]
· LCCs [Jaunted]