AirAsia Here In September Says Tony Fernandes
By CT Hj Mahmod

Tony Fernandes

Bandar Seri Begawan - AirAsia, the leading no frills, low fare, Southeast Asian airline will fly into Brunei in September, confirmed its Chief Executive Officer and founder, Tony Fernandes, yesterday at the roundtable talk on Brunei Darussalam's Economy.

The 40-year-old airline tycoon was responding to a question from the audience on when AirAsia would start its operations here. Mr Fernandes said: "We are waiting for a formal approval from Brunei's government."

Official sources confirmed the airline is in negotiations with the relevant authority and is likely to begin operations in September.

The Malaysia-based CEO was here yesterday to deliver a keynote address entitled "Starting the Revolution: The AirAsia Story" at the roundtable talks held by Asia Inc Forum together with its corporate partners TOTAL, BLNG, HSBC, DST, BearingPoint and RBA.

Yesterday's roundtable at the Jerudong Park and Country Club was attended by the Minister of Health, Pehin Dato Hj Awg Suyoi; Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Pehin Major General (R) Dato Hj Awg Mohammad; Acting Chairman of Brunei Economic Development Board, Mr. Timothy Ong, and senior government officials as well as corporate figures.

Also present in the audience was the Chief Executive Officer of the national carrier Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA), Mr Peter Foster, along with other leading figures from both the corporate and public sector.

Brunei is very much a part of AirAsia's ambition in expanding its market with plans to operate one direct fight to Kuala Lumpur daily. "Brunei is like home to us. The people want us to come and we come here," said the CEO while dismissing speculation that the budget airline will pose a direct competition to RBA.

With AirAsia almost certain to fly to Brunei, there will be an upsurge in travellers from the Sultanate heading to Kuala Lumpur as the tedious task of travelling to Mid or Labuan to catch their flights would soon be history.

What is Mr Fernandes's secret to success amid global challenges of rising oil price, SARS and tsunami? The CEO simply put it as the "power to survive that keeps us working".

While other airlines in the world have been fretting over rising oil prices, hovering above US$60 per barrel, AirAsia is still maintaining its low-fare deal. "The higher the oil price, the lower we keep the fares," explained Mr Fernandes.

Among the topics of discussion behind the closed-door roundtable were how the economic re-emergence of China and India is reshaping Asean's economic prospect, and the review of recent economic developments in Brunei.

The Founder and Managing Director of Robust Economic Analysis, Mr P.K Basu led the former session, whereas Mr Timothy Ong facilitated the latter.

Much of Mr Fernandes's talk surrounded on the importance of AirAsia's workforce of 2,000 people. He described his workforce as "very strongly motivated". He believes with a "happy workforce, customers would be looked after better".

He founded Tune Air Sdn Bhd in 2001 with a vision to make air travel more affordable to Malaysians. With that in mind, Mr Fernandes and his three partners bought over AirAsia from DRB-Hicom.

Under their leadership, the fledging airline has repaid its RM40 million debt and has been making profits. In just three years AirAsia has grown from a modest two Boeing 737-300s to its present fleet of 28 aircraft. It now operates over 100 domestic and international flights from hubs in KLIA, Johor Bahru, Bangkok and Jakarta. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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