Taylor-made for Swift

KUALA LUMPUR — Two days from now, Taylor Swift will be flying in to Manila for her RED Tour, this year’s most-anticipated concert, to be held at the Mall Of Asia (MOA) Arena on June 6 at 8 p.m. The seven-time Grammy winner and her official 80-member entourage will be on-board AirAsia’s 180-seater Airbus A320 with specially-designed Taylor Swift aircraft livery.

It was last Friday night when AirAsia, the official airline of the RED Tour in Southeast Asia, unveiled the exclusive aircraft livery via the RED Hot Party at the Sultan Lounge of Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Video clippings clearly showed how the creative team meticulously worked on the aircraft livery design. It used a special paint in creating Taylor’s name and images.

Gracing the event was Aireen Omar, CEO of AirAsia Berhad, who expressed delight over the opportunity to work with one of the most popular international singers as it marked yet another milestone for the airline brand.

“We are very excited because she’s a very popular international star and for her to be associated with AirAsia is an extremely fortunate event for us,” Omar told The STAR after delivering her speech at the event.  “It is truly an honor for us to have her and to be able to fly her and her group in her tour around Southeast Asia. She represents the youth and like the brand, she reaches out to the masses as well. It’s something that we feel it’s similar to who we are.”

Omar added that the pop singer is among the professional artists that they have worked with. Never did she hear Taylor demand for a single thing. “I don’t think she’s demanding. She has been very accommodating and casual about things and we are very fortunate for her to agree to use this as her official airline. We are the biggest local carrier in Asia and Southeast Asia is really our backyard for AirAsia so I think it makes sense for her to collaborate with us and fly her everywhere and make sure she’ll be able to meet her fans.”

The 24-year-old singer was not able to attend the formal launch due to her concert in China that same night. Instead, she sent a message through a video recording that turned members of the media and bloggers from across the region truly ecstatic. Resounding shrieks also filled the air upon hearing the announcement that a number of Taylor Swift merchandise, vacation trip package and concert tickets were to be raffled off. Malaysian dance group Wakaka, on the other hand, displayed an impressive footwork.     

Asked if AirAsia has plans of keeping the exclusive Taylor aircraft livery for a long time, Omar responded positively. “Oh, yes definitely because she’s very relevant to the world right now and I think a lot of people reach out and can relate to her… we will have it for a long time.”

Taylor fans, also known as the Swifties, will be able to see the special aircraft flying in the air for one year as it will also be servicing AirAsia routes throughout its network which spans 88 destinations across 22 countries.   

Aside from the Philippines, the Airbus A320 will be traveling to Jakarta, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur for the show. Sadly, news came out that the pop singer has cancelled the upcoming RED concert in Bangkok, Thailand after the country’s military seized government control last week. On her Twitter account last May 27, Taylor tweeted, “I’m sending my love to the fans in Thailand. I’m so sad about the concert being cancelled.” — (@taylorswift13).

In the RED Tour Manila concert, Taylor will perform  songs from her hit Red album like 22, I Knew You Were Trouble and We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. Other show dates and venues are today in Jakarta, Indonesia; June 11, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and June 12, Singapore.