AirAsia on Monday announced its first ever open innovation hackathon​, AIRVOLUTION 2017, slated to be held in Malaysia on March 18-19.

The forthcoming event titled Spearheading Innovation in ASEAN is open to participants of any nationality currently residing in any of the 26 markets covered by AirAsia’s extensive network.

These comprise Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, as well as Singapore, Brunei, Viet Nam and Cambodia, along with Laos, Myanmar, mainland China and Hong Kong.

The others are Macau, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, as well as India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, along with Maldives, Iran, Oman and Mauritius, in addition to Australia and New Zealand.

Registration for the event starts from today until February 19. Successful teams will be informed by March 3. AirAsia said it will sponsor return flights for teams residing outside Malaysia.

The selected 20 teams will then go head-to-head to create new applications and tools to address a travel-related challenge to be revealed later.

Solutions submitted during the hackathon will be reviewed by a panel of technology and aviation experts, who will select the best one based on originality, scalability and execution.

Winners will receive a cash prize, AirAsia BIG Points and free return flights to an AirAsia destination of their choice.

"Innovation is the lifeblood of AirAsia. We live and die by ideas, and this hackathon will provide the perfect environment for the best and brightest to explore new ideas,” AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said.

"This year marks the emergence of AirAsia as a digital airline, and I believe this event can spur the kind of radical, creative thinking that will ensure AirAsia continues to maintain the leading edge," he said. — VNS