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Tan Sri (Dr) Tony Fernandes (Male), aged 53, is the co-founder
of AirAsia. He was appointed as an Non-Independent Executive
Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia Group Berhad
(AAGB) on 30 March 2018.
He is also a Non-Independent Executive Director and Group Chief
Executive Officer of AirAsia Berhad (AAB) and Co-Group Chief
Executive Officer of AirAsia X Berhad.
Fernandes is one of Asia’s most recognisable entrepreneurs,
best known for co-founding low-cost carrier AirAsia with Datuk
Kamarudin Bin Meranun and democratising air travel in the region.
Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin famously bought the ailing
airline for a token RM1 (approximately USD0.25) and RM40 million
in debt, turning it around within two years and growing it from a
domestic Malaysian carrier into Asia’s largest low-cost carrier by
passengers carried.
Fernandes studied at Epsom College and the London School
of Economics and Political Science in the UK, and qualified as
an Associate Member of the Association of Chartered Certified
Accountants in 1991, then as a Fellow Member in 1996. An
accountant by training, he began his career in Richard Branson’s
Virgin Group before returning to Malaysia as Warner Music Group’s
Vice President for Southeast Asia before venturing into the airline
business.
He has received numerous honours and awards over the course
of his career. These include the Honour of the Commander of
the Order of the British Empire, conferred by Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth II in 2011, and the Commander of the Legion d’Honneur,
awarded by the French Government for outstanding contributions
to the economy of France through the aviation industry.
In 2017, Fernandes published an autobiography, Flying High, which
recounts his journey from a young boy growing up in Malaysia all
the way to his time at Warner Music and finally as AirAsia Group
Chief Executive Officer.
TAN SRI (DR)
TONY FERNANDES
Non-Independent Executive Director and
Group Chief Executive Officer
Malaysian
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AirAsia Group Berhad
LEADERSHIP
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