AirAsia Pays Tribute to QPR Legend Alan McDonald with Special Aircraft

 

 
 
 

AirAsia Pays Tribute to QPR Legend Alan McDonald with Special Aircraft

 

 
SEPANG, 18 JULY 2012 – AirAsia, World’s Best Low Cost Airline by Skytrax for four consecutive years (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012) paid tribute to Queens Park Rangers (QPR) legend, the late Alan McDonald with the unveiling of a special aircraft named after the team’s former captain and assistant manager.

The Airbus A320 is painted in the football club’s colours with a prominent tail that features QPR’s iconic hoops; the blue and white horizontal stripes just like the team’s home jersey. The interior of the aircraft carries fun facts on both QPR and Alan McDonald.

Mr McDonald spent 17 years at Loftus Road which began in 1979 when he was signed on as a youth player and made over 500 appearances for the club after making his first-team debut in 1983.
Present at the unveiling of the aircraft was the QPR team which includes Chief Executive Officer, Philip Beard; Team Manager, Mark Hughes as well the management and players such as Park Ji Sung, Jamie Mackie and Djibril Cisse.

AirAsia Group Head of Commercial, Kathleen Tan said, “The special aircraft does not only symbolize our energetic relationship with QPR but also further cements our relationship with a team with an amazing history in English football and whose passion, determination and commitment reflects our own hard work and fervour in attaining success.”
Just recently, it was announced that airline has extended its partnership with QPR as  AirAsia is now the football club’s Official Playing Kit Sponsor and Main Club Partner, with the airline’s logo emblazoned on all QPR’s playing kit (home, away, third) for the whole duration of the 2012/2013 Barclays Premier League season.

Tonia McDonald, widow of the late Alan, added, “On behalf of myself, Joshua and all the McDonald family I cannot thank Mr Fernandes enough for his overwhelming gesture of deciding to remember and honour Alan by naming one of his planes after him. We know Alan would have been so proud and amazed at such a generous tribute. I’m only sorry that we could not be in KL to witness the unveiling, but I feel immensely proud that Alan’s name and the QPR colours will jointly become a legacy incorporated in such a wonderful aircraft.”

The Alan McDonald aircraft is the most recent addition to AirAsia’s numerous aircraft with special liveries. In February, the airline launched its 100^th Airbus with a special Dragon livery. Apart from that, AirAis also have other liveries such as the Caterham F1, Asean Basketball League liveries; the Bo Rocks and Dato’ Pahamin liveries, as tribute to the Chief Operating Officer (Bo Lingam) and ex-chairman’s (Dato’ Pahamin) contributions to AirAsia; Amazing AirAsia livery; Truly Asean livery to celebrate 2009’s ASEAN Day; Zoom Malaysia livery in support of Tourism Malaysia’s initiatives to promote the country;  Dato’ Lat’s livery, to recognize the Malaysian talent; and the Tun Mahathir livery to thank the visionary leader for his contribution to our nation.