It might lead to a lifetime of resentment, but a woman who gave birth on an AirAsia (website: airasia.com) flight has decided to name her baby after the budget airline.
Little AirAsia, or Asia Liew Ya Hang as he is known in Mandarin, was born on Flight AK 6506 from Penang to Kuching while the jet was still 2,000 feet in the air.
Mum Liew Siaw Hsia, who by the way just happens to have been given a lifetime’s worth of free flights, had been travelling home after quitting her job.
Despite being 11 weeks short of the full-term she went into labour mid-flight, prompting pilots to hastily divert the plane to Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Impatient young AirAsia lived up to his name, however, by popping out while still airborne.
“AirAsia’s staff did a great job in handling the situation,” commented Dr Ronald Tang, who helped deliver the child. “The delivery was blessed with no complications. The mother and baby were safe and immediately transferred to the hospital upon landing.”
Discussing her unusual choice of name, Ms Hsia said Ya Hang, or AirAsia, is the “best name I can give my son, who was the first baby born in the airline’s plane”.
The incident evokes memories of other well-publicised cases in which parents have given their children obscure names. Among the most noteworthy are ‘Number 16 Bus Shelter’, ‘@’ and a British toddler with 25 middle names taken from boxing champions.
As far as we’re aware, though, this is the first time a child has ever been named after an airline. Which inevitably begs the question: how long before a ‘Ryanair‘ is born?
