Dato' Seri Tony Fernandes
Group Chief Executive Officer
AirAsia, MALAYSIA

Some among the elite look at AirAsia and Tony Fernandes and see a successful entrepreneur heading a company that has revolutionized aviation in Southeast Asia. But among everyday Southeast Asians, appreciation of the man extends beyond the obvious. Flying with AirAsia, they experience personally the passion, commitment and fervor to create an airline that is linking the diverse communities of Asean.

To say that AirAsia is an unparalleled success story (it has become a global brand in seven short years) is to state the obvious. When Tony and his friends took over the then struggling airline in late 2001, they did so armed only with a dream. Together with his partners, Tony founded Tune Air Sdn Bhd in 2001, with a vision to democratize air travel (Now Everyone Can Fly).

The dream took flight with just two planes, one destination and a staff of 250. Now, AirAsia operates almost 80 new Airbus A320s, flies to approximately 60 destinations in Asia, employs 6,500 and has carried 75 million guests to date.

Tony created another historic first by founding AirAsia X, the world’s only low-cost, long-haul airline, which launched its first route in November 2007.

Following AirAsia's unprecedented growth, Fernandes turned his hand to other business ventures. He established Tune Hotels - a no-frills low-cost chain of hotels. Tune Hotels offer "5-star bedding at 1-star prices" with room rates from RM 0.99. There are currently five hotels in operation and various sites under development, with the company working to develop dozens of hotels across AirAsia destinations.

He also set up Tune Money, developed to cater to the financial needs of the underserved market with three main product segments at affordable prices, and Tune Talk, which targets to serve the underserved segment of the market with lowest flat calling rates. Then there is Tune Sports, which runs the ASEAN Basketball League. Tune Group also has an investment in 1Malaysia F1 Team to support the 1Malaysia initiative and to provide an avenue for Malaysia to advance in the global sports scene. This F1 team will race under the colours of Team Lotus in the 2010 F1 circuit.

Fernandes continues to live his credo -- Dream the impossible, Believe the unbelievable and Never takes no for an answer – and is constantly on the lookout for new worlds to conquer and new ventures to launch.